Mass Effect: Metropolis
by BlueSpartan107
Summary: Connected to the Zach Shepard storyline. Watch as William Thatcher tears his city apart by igniting a civil war against the rich and corrupt. Will reluctant hero and EUCC member Christian Tyson be able to stop the madness of rebellion and ultimately get out of Metropolis alive? Or will the fires burn until nothing stands? Cameo of Zach Shepard at the end. V,L
1. Prologue: Dragonslayers

Prologue: Dragonslayers

_William Thatcher stared at his camera, smoking a cigarette in front of his mobile camera. His V.I., Jarvis, was ready to put him on live TV and on every possible screen all across Metropolis. William had lived in Metropolis ever since he was born twenty-five years ago. But Metropolis was on its last legs, and the Alliance occupation didn't make anything better. They were the next Detroit times ten, and it was his crazy plan that would change everything._

"Five seconds until midnight, sir." _Jarvis notified. _"Beginning in three, two..."

_William watched as the camera turned on with the red light indicator pointing out he was live. He found himself chuckling before the camera, rubbing his short cropped brown hair before speaking. "You're so precious, aren't you? The rich class citizens of the city of Metropolis, holding every credit to themselves instead of making a difference by donating to charity and helping rebuild the structures of the lower class citizens who are forced to take chances in order to feed their fucking families. And then you have the Alliance in your pocket, protecting your borders. And then, Calypso still operates that old nuclear reactor that should've been shut down a hundred years ago. Like we didn't have enough problems without that damn Mr. Sarif claiming he could fix that reactor and then not making enough progress to provide power to all of the entire city!"_

_William took another puff from his cigarette. "You know, my friend says the reason that we are going in the shitter on parts of the planet is because of the alien influence. I say it's the same reason from the past: the rich don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves. And while many alien species are rich; the asari, the turians, and the salarians to name a few, the rich of our city are the only ones to blame. But my friend is just too much of a xenophobe to understand, and he got two of his friends killed a few years ago trying to kill a turian representative that had visited this dying place. But I know we have only ourselves to blame."_

_He picked up a pistol he had to his side, cradling it in his cigarette hand. "To all of the rich people, you think you're safe? You're not. Come tomorrow, this city will be running red with your blood splattered all around the entire city. As for the poor, you have a choice in this: join me or stay out of my way. The world will remember this moment as the day the poor truly rebelled against the rich, and turned themselves into the new gods of this city. I'll see you soon." William smiled before the camera stopped recording._

"Livestream successful. All available viewing screens broadcasted your newsfeed. Shall I end the recording session?"

_William smiled again. "No. Record a second message of mine but do not display it until three days from now."_

"Very well, sir." _Jarvis spoke before activating the camera again, waiting for his master's second message to be spoken._

June 9th, 2179

Eight hours before The Message

William brought the last package into one of his warehouses full of 'hazardous materials' donated to him by the Blue Suns organization. It was all part of his plan he was to initiate tomorrow. He made some discreet deals to the group through friends of the organization, and Vido Santiago made good on the agreement. The trade for this required for William to serve the Blue Suns for seven years after it, but it would be unknown on whether or not he would be able to hold his end of the bargain in the end.

As William closed the door, he heard footsteps behind him. As he turned around, he realized it was his friend Finch. Their friendship had been fragile ever since that incident years ago, where Jordan and Joseph got themselves killed by Alliance officials during their failed assassination attempt. Of course, they failed because Shepard had stepped in to save the turian ambassador they attempted to kill. Now Finch was pushing to get the Reds out of Metropolis and across other parts of the galaxy, but William decided to quit the gang and left out why.

"So," Finch spoke. "the Reds are leaving Metropolis tonight. There's a seat still open for you if you want, William."

"I don't really fit in to your group anymore, Finch." William answered. "I don't hate aliens like you do. Maybe the batarians, but they're fucking slavers. It's the ones who see themselves as gods among mortals due to wealth that I hate."

"Pretty much everybody in Metropolis that lives in the upper district thinks that way. And we've been robbing most of them blind for years now."

"And that's going to pay off after tomorrow."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing to concern you should you decide to leave right now, alongside your new brothers and sisters."

Finch grabbed William's shoulder. "Tell me what the hell that means, Will."

He laughed. "This is exactly like you, Finch. You don't quit pushing when you need to save yourself. You throw yourself into the frying pan when I'm trying to throw you out of it to avoid over-cooking it. You are worthy enough to have a chance to leave now. I suggest you take it."

"Come on, William. What's your game?"

He stood up, pulling open the garage door. "If you insist." The door opened to reveal a huge supply depot of guns. Many models of assault rifles and shotguns were lined up on tables and walls. "I am planning the biggest clean-up operation of our generation. I will purge the city of the rich oppressors and place the deserving on their throne."

Finch looked in shock. "Where the hell did you get all of these guns?"

"The Blue Suns. Mr. Santiago is a very influential man. I owe him a big favor after this if the plan succeeds."

"William, what you're proposing is madness. I hate Metropolis more than most but this is just too extreme."

"Which is why you're going to leave and never speak of this. For the sake of our friendship, I recommend you take the offer or risk me doing something drastic."

Finch was about to protest before he saw a gun in his friend's hand. It pointed straight at his head, and Finch raised his hands in defense. With that movement, he no longer saw his friend from the past. He saw a bane ready to raise his claymore high to slay the dragon that flew high in the sky. It was in that moment he knew he had to leave. "Fine, William. You're not one of the Reds. Maybe you never were." Finch turned around and ran as fast as his legs could take him.

"That's right, Finch." William yelled. "Run like a little bitch!" He laughed as he closed the garage door, making a list of what he needed ready for tomorrow's conquest.

Four hours later...

It had been a tiring flight for Christian Tyson; member of the Earth Urban Combat Championship's team, the Edmonton Blood Dragons. He had flown from their game against the Mobile Death Pigeons in Alabama to the city of Metropolis in a matter of two hours. He and two of his other team members were supposed to be helping out some charity ball in two days, and he came early to get their rooms set up. His armor and gear was in the back seat of the rental skycar he was borrowing.

On one hand, Michelle was one of the other members going to represent the EBD at the charity. Michelle Thrask was one of the toughest women in the league he had ever met, and she was very beautiful. Sometimes he couldn't help but look at how well she competed against the other teams with a sense of grace and precision. They've practiced together a few times, but he had no motive yet to say how beautiful he thought she was.

On the other hand, Eric Sparrow was also chosen by his team to come to the charity event. Eric was a prick from New Jersey who got himself onto the Blood Dragons through ruthless tactics and a deal Christian's team made with the Jersey team. After he was on, though, he nearly got Christian kicked off the team after a stint in Russia. That caused Christian to lose his temper and punch Eric in the face. Thankfully, he swung his fist after clearing his name.

Christian sighed after he landed the car in the lot. He opened the door and was greeted by a chauffeur to be escorted to his room on the penthouse floor. After spending time getting things ready in his room for easy to reach access, Christian opened his comlink to talk to his family down in California. While he played for two of Canada's teams (he also played on an ice hockey team sometimes), he was California-born and his parents still lived down there.

_"Hello?" _His mother asked on the line.

"Hey, mom." Christian's voice was tired, but clear enough to understand.

_"Oh, hey sweetie! We just finished watching your game from a few hours ago. You know how your father likes to record your games to watch over and over. I swear, I think he's trying to study you or something."_

"How has dad been doing? I know it's been a few months since he and I talked."

_"Your father is doing great. He wants to speak to you soon, but work has held him up a bit. I think he's heading to bed now. I can hear his footsteps coming up the stairs."_

"I felt like heading off to bed, too. Those Death Pigeons really knew their stuff. Thank goodness Rico and Shale decided to say things like 'Come on, you apes! You wanna live forever?!' and 'Death to all pigeons!' during the fight. I think it gave the team a laugh."

_"You can't always tell on TV because of you guys wearing those helmets. I'm glad you can at least have fun doing the things you love."_

"So am I." Suddenly, Christian noticed that he was getting another call. "Sorry to cut this short, mom, but-"

_"Say no more. The boss is checking up on you as well to see if you're all right. We'll talk again soon, sweetie. See if you can visit sometime soon. I love you, son."_

"I love you too, mom." Christian transferred to the other call from his manager, Evan Costner. Evan was a shrewd man when it came to those who would hinder his rise to fame, but he was kind to his team. Christian and Michelle were his favorites, as they were his best players on the team.

"Hello?" Christian asked.

_"Christian, what took you so long to answer, man? Normally you're straight to business."_

"Sorry. I was finishing a call with my parents."

_"Okay, that's fine. Thanks for letting me know. Listen, Michelle and Eric are going to be coming in around eleven tonight. Are their rooms all set?"_

"Yes. I looked through the rooms myself. Everything's in order."

_"Good. And Christian, some members of the team decided it's best that we start calling you by the nickname of Dragonslayer. How's that sound to you?"_

"Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron, sir?"

_"What? Never mind. They thought that after your fight against Vladimir 'Miraak' Putin in Russia you should be referred by that title. He was the Russian dragon for five years, and the way you took him down with your useful invention you use for both my team and your hockey team was spectacular. Go ahead and think about it for a while if you want."_

"Great. Anything else, boss?"

_"Two more things. One: it's apparent to me that you might have a thing for Michelle. And you can't lie to your manager about that. I have the eyes of a hawk and the ears of a fox. Just remember that if you decide to act on it, don't let it interfere with the team. Everybody is pretty much family and I don't want any problems. Which leads to the second thing I want to say: don't cause trouble with Eric. I know you two have a heated past, but I need both of you to cooperate now more than ever. Understand?"_

"Sure, boss. I'll take both of those situations into consideration."

_"Good. Now get some rest. You're going to need it after that last battle. Take care, Dragonslayer."_

The connection disconnected before Christian could say good-bye (or even argue about the name again), so he instead collapsed into sleep on his bed, forgetting for a moment that his best friend and worst rival were going to be with him for the next few days.

If only he knew about William Thatcher's message. He would've left that night and tell the rest of them to turn back.

Fate is cruel that way.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, it's the same routine as the last story. There won't be an author's note until the epilogue, so I'm going to leave you guys a very explainable author's note. If you haven't gotten it yet, the main antagonist is one of Shepard's old rivals named William Thatcher. Thatcher's importance in the story is that he pulls something from Christopher Nolan's book and launches an all-out assault on the city of Metropolis (notice all of the DC references). One character you can compare him to is Bane from The Dark Knight rises, but who he is really based off of is a character with the name of Bill Williamson from a movie called Rampage. In that movie, Bill launched an all-out massacre on his town, killing a bunch of innocent people and robbing a bank. William Thatcher's name actually stems off a protagonist from another movie played by the more serious Joker, Heath Ledger (Coincidence? I think not!).

The protagonist itself is actually Christian Tyson. He is interesting as he is one of my followers (who will not be named for his own safety/confidentiality) just as Admiral Wauters was (I don't remember revealing who his pen name is to the world). I am hoping that I am able to get his personality right, as I know him to be a quiet but loyal companion who I would definitely have on my side. His role in the story here is as the protagonist because he actually stands out and rebels against William despite the fact it could mean certain death. Expect a bunch of things to the multiplayer popping up with Christian, as these particular tools are what saves his life in multiple situations.

And finally, if you had read chapter 39 to my story, Mass Effect: Resolution, you'll see that one of the characters from that book has a dark secret that is revealed here. Once you're done reading this, I imagine what my true followers (and even fans of the character) are going to say. Also, you can expect a reference at the end towards my Commander Shepard from my main story, Zach. As short as the last one will be, don't expect it to be too long for the ending this time. He can't steal the spotlight all the time, you know.

Until the next time we speak, followers.


	2. Chapter 1: Heroics

Chapter 1: Heroics

Secret Hideout, 07:59 am

Four hours before Destruction

William finished his reps before he walked over to his armory. He had turned the basement of the original Reds hideout into his personal armory. Within, he had his guns and armor ready for his plan. His armor was black as the night, and his guns had the same color to them. Enhanced shielding and high-powered heat-sinks enhanced their efficiency, which would be perfect for his plan.

He grabbed his shotgun first; his barrel overpowered and his rounds upgraded with inferno technology. It would help him through some of the challenges he was to overcome. All he needed was the underground to do what he wanted. Already he had the street urchins running to let the crime lords know of the weapons cache locations. The lords will have the inhabitants fight their way to city hall to kill the mayor while others are attacking certain rich guys hot spots. His informant was at one of those spots, but if he lost him he wouldn't care.

Setting it down, he reached for his shirt on the table. He smiled as he slipped it on, knowing of the added details he threw in to ensure no loose ends. Like what was going to happen to this place thirty seconds after the authorities walked in.

The Hotel, 08:22 am

Christian woke up to the sound of his omni-tool going off with a message. He struggled to awake his eyes so he could look at the message clearly. Once he saw the room without any trouble, he looked at his omni-tool:

_Christian,_

_Michelle and I are waiting for you down at the breakfast buffet on the thirteenth floor. We need to talk._

_Eric_

"Great." Christian sighed. "Talk about a wake-up call." He got up quickly and got himself dressed, placing on his team jacket last. He opened the door to his hotel room to see two men dressed in black walk past in a hurry. It seemed suspicious to him almost immediately, but he didn't think it was something he should immediately handle. Instead, he headed back into his room and called up the front desk.

_"This is the lobby. How can we help?"_

"Yeah, I saw some pretty suspicious men on the fifteenth floor."

_"How many?"_

"Two. They were both wearing black. Whoever they were, they kept their faces hidden. It seemed too suspicious to me."

_"We'll send security to check it out. Thank you for notifying us."_

"No problem. Have a good day."

_"You, too, Mr. Tyson." _The connection was cut and Christian headed over to his armor case. He popped it open to stare at the armor of his team. The silver plate aligned with the red dragon pattern was unscathed, as his armor had always been polished after a game. Next to it was his weapon of choice: a multi-tool of his own design. It was a three-in-one system; switching between spear to sword to even his hockey stick within seconds. He had the only one thanks to the brilliant mind of one Steven Rogers, who designed it specifically for Christian's needs.

_That might be a bit too bulky. _Instead, Christian reached for the braces in his case, slipping them onto his wrists. They could easily be concealed by his jacket, so he shouldn't have any questions about why he was carrying his defensive gear around. Closing his case (which was so overdesigned it could likely withstand a nuclear explosion) he headed for his door, knowing he was now more prepared for trouble that he sensed had to have been coming.

Seattle Alliance HQ, 08:26 am

Admiral Taggart walked into the office of his command center. He had been called in on his day off due to a hacker's threat message at midnight. He had turned on the TV once he heard the news of Thatcher's message. It was spread all across the extranet and talked about on the Alliance News Network. It was a pain in the ass to hear about this kind of event.

_This is why there should've been more control over the city. _Taggart thought to himself. _Petty criminals such as Mr. Thatcher wouldn't be running around threatening to kill people if they went through the lower district and purged the criminals. Of course, we would need to pull out all of the poor souls to protect them from the scourge of the city the rich have created._

"Admiral Taggart," Taggart's assistant spoke from the door."Metropolis Police have connected a helmet camera to one of their SWAT members. They're moving to where the signal from last night originated."

"You would've figured they'd've found the signal when it was broadcasted."

"Mr. Thatcher had the signal heavily encoded. It took our codebreakers hours to find where the signal originated."

"Hmm." Taggart hummed. "Where did the signal originate?"

"An abandoned house. Something constructed in the early 21st century. The police thought they cleared that place in 2174 after the two friends Mr. Thatcher mentioned were killed trying to assassinate a turian ambassador. They found that place and arrested people from there; Mr. Thatcher included. He only got out recently."

"So he ends up going crazy and plans on fighting a war against the rich of the city. That spells suicide."

"No doubt." The assistant opened the door to the command center, where a giant monitor displayed the visualization of an entire SWAT team entering an old house. The image was black and white (so 21st century) and it displayed what was going on in perfect picture. The audio was on so they could hear what was going on.

_"We're entering the hacker's hideout. Stay sharp and stay alert for any trouble."_ The commanding officer commanded to his men as they approached the door. One man set a charge on the door, signalling everyone to back off so the detonation didn't injure anyone. Seconds after they were cleared, the door exploded into shrapnel. Suddenly, everyone hastefully ran inside, shouting around the room.

_"Freeze! MPD!" _After a few seconds of silence, the team became surprised. _"Where is he?"_

_"Search around the house. He could be anywhere." _The one with the camera began to search around the room, taking a left into an area where four computer monitors focused around a man at a desk.

_"William Thatcher," _The cameraman said. _"by authority of the Metropolis Police Department, you are hereby under-" _The man stopped talking as he turned the chair around to see an old man taped to the chair with his mouth sewn shut. _"What the fuck?"_

_"What have you got?" _The commanding officer asked as he entered the room. _"Holy shit. Get that man's mouth free." _The one with the camera summons a knife from his boot and slowly cuts the stitches.

_"You need to run." _The old man said weakly.

_"That's Mr. Abernathy."_

_"You need... to run."_

_"Why did he do this to you?"_

_"There's a... a bomb. Inside... inside me. A detonator... he stitched it inside me."_

_"We can get a bomb squad in here to disable the bomb."_

_"No... it's too late. The bomb goes off when my heart rate drops dramatically. I've been bleeding inside for a... a while. I don't have much time... Run... RUNNNNNN!"_

_"Let's get the fuck out of here!" _The cameraman shouted.

_"Everyone, get out of the house! There's a bo-"_ The recording went to static before the man could finish commanding his forces to retreat.

"Henderson?" Taggart asked as he tried to connect to the squad's radio. "Morrison? Underhill?"

"It appears Mr. Thatcher is far more resourceful than we first realized." Taggart's assistant stated.

"That means he set us up. Son of a bitch! And knowing that place, it's the truth."

"You need to calm down, sir. We'll be keeping an eye out for him all around Metropolis."

"If he had explosives for an entire house to be destroyed, who knows what other tricks he has up his sleeve. We need our men to keep a constant watch for suspicious activity. Get a transport nearby to prepare for the worst case scenario Thatcher threatened to ensue."

"Very well." His assistant left the room in a hurry, revealing his confidence in this operation to be low. Rubbing his eyes, Taggart reached for a connection to someone within the city. If anyone needed to be warned, it was the crazy old man with the nuclear reactor.

Calypso Nuclear Reactor and Scientific Facility, 08:28 am

Inside CEO Sarif's office

David Sarif looked at the caller I.D. on his large terminal along the wall. Admiral Taggart was the last person he expected to get a call from. They both had conflicting views on how to fix the economy in Metropolis, and Taggart went to work in Seattle rather than lead the Alliance garrison held up in the broken city. Taggart and Sarif had some words with each other before then.

"Better see what he wants." Sarif grumbled. "Don't want him complaining about my hospitality again." He set the baseball in his hand aside so he could accept the call with his omni-tool. Admiral Taggart's image popped up in front of him, his face unpleasant still after all those years. "Taggart, nice to see you didn't forget about me after leaving."

_"Our differences are in the past, Sarif." _Taggart spoke, stroking his blonde hair before speaking again. _"And while I haven't agreed with the work you've done involving that reactor and cybernetic augmentations, I respect you for holding everything together all of this time. But I come with a warning."_

"You mean about this William Thatcher guy? Yeah, I sent many of my non-essential staff back home to be with their families, or to pack up and leave. But I'm not leaving this place until we gather all of our research. If Thatcher were to attack this facility and take our secrets, he could do this somewhere else on the globe. We work on special projects for the Alliance, the turian heirarchy, and many other galactic clients. Our research is vital."

_"Then you better make it fast. I have an Alliance transport coming to pick up anybody they can from the chaos that Thatcher will definitely cause. He's a genius and a madman, and I don't want him to kill you."_

Sarif juggled his baseball before speaking again. "I understand your concern, but you don't need to worry about me. I've got five transports capable of carrying all of my on-site staff out of here once our data is secure. As soon as we are leaving Metropolis I'll notify you of our success."

_"Fine. Just remember that there are many people that could use the protection of your LOKI mech force, too."_

"I can spare a garrison. They'll be out to assist you when you're ready."

_"Thank you, Sarif."_

"It's the right thing to do. The people of Metropolis are my top concern."

_"As they are my concern. Keep them safe."_

"Will do." The connection cut off, and Sarif went to his desk to type in the orders. He heard a beeping sound and turned to face Chronicler on a large hologram table. "You've gotta stop sneaking up on me, Chronicler. It's not good for my health."

_"I apologize, Mr. Sarif." _Chronicler apologized, his red and blue armored hologram shuddering a bit. _"Father would like to know how your progress on the Phoenix Mk. II implants goes."_

"The Phoenix implants will still take a few years to work the exact way The Stranger wants them. Even if we get past the emotional toll the implants could cause, I'm not sure we can avoid the scarring process that comes from anger and stress. Whoever is augmented with these implants should be able to gain the increased strength and speed the original implants gave to Patient R, but only if we can solve the communications problem the separate implants have."

_"Father believes that we will have 90% of those problems solved before we reach the deadline. As long as we know that the user will not suffer the same effects as Patient R, Father will be satisfied with the results."_

"I sure hope so. I mean implants that can make inactive organs work again; it sounds too good to be true. It's a huge advancement in the work of modern medicine."

_"Those modifications will be useful to Father's future plans, along with the many other projects other CEO's are working on."_

"I hope the others are having as much success as us, if not better success."

_"I assure you they are."_

Sarif grinned. "Chronicler, I need you to grab all of the project files and transfer them to the Hawk's Nest off in D.C. While you're at it, make sure the remnants of Project Icarus are ready in case of immediate danger and there's just not enough time to get all of the personel on the transports."

_"Of course." _Chronicler's hologram sunk into the table and disappeared, giving Sarif the breathing room to continue working on last-minute details.

Back at the hotel, Christian walked into the dining area where they were serving breakfast. He took one look around the room to see his friend Michelle waving to him from one of the tables. Eric was in a chair across from her digging into six pancakes at once. Chirstian rolled his eyes at the sight of the man pigging out and walked over to meet with them.

"It's alive!" Michelle joked as Christian took a seat. He playfully shoved her before a waiter came over to ask him what he would like to drink.

"Good morning, sir. What could I get for you?"

"Orange juice, please."

"Coming right up." The man poured a pitcher of orange juice into the glass Christian had in his spot. He then retreated to another table.

"So is it an open buffet or something?" Christian asked.

"Yep." Eric said as he tried to swallow a mouthfull of pancake. "They've got waffles, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, cereal, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, french toast, and so much more! It's insane!" His Jersey accent seemed to be cracking as he finished swallowing.

"Do you want me to get something for you?" Michelle asked.

"Oven Pancakes. Some butter, a little powdered sugar and lemon juice spread over them and you've got heaven on a plate..."

"You have got the wierdest taste ever." Eric commented.

"Says the guy that eats like a pig." Christian joked.

"Okay, I'll get that for you. Just play nice, you guys." Michelle left the table laughing.

"You got it, Michelle." Christian waved as she walked away. She waved back and turned as Christian grabbed his glass of orange juice. Once Michelle was out of range, Eric went hostile.

"You really pull the lamest crap, Christian." His Jersey accent was much more understandable now that he wasn't chewing his food. "I mean, she seriously isn't falling for all of your flirting, right?"

"I don't really think that's your business, Eric." Christian commented.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Eric drank from his own glass before speaking again. "Besides, you're way too famous for her."

"She and I are the best players on the team. I'm not too famous for her."

"Uh... well, then you're too nice for her."

"That's called manners. Something you lack."

"Hey!" He shoved another bit of pancake into his mouth. "I have manners."

"You're talking while chewing your food."

Eric stopped.

"Eric, what's your problem with me? I didn't do anything to you until Russia when I punched you in the face."

"You're just competition to me, still. Ever since you defeated my old team, I wanted nothing more than to take the top spot from you. Russia was just an impulsive plan that failed thanks to that Charnophsky guy. If you had actually gotten framed for the damage caused to the arena, the top spot could've been mine easier, but now..."

"How are you even still on the team?"

"I have friends in high places, too." Eric smirked. "The asari go crazy for my fighting style."

"So, did the asari make a petition on for you to stay?"

"Nope. An asari dutchess visiting Earth payed my fine. She even bought me dinner. And-"

"No!" Christian shouted. "Don't say any more. I don't need that image in my head."

"How did you know?"

"Because 'everybody'" Christian made quotations with his fingers. "loves the asari."

"And you don't?"

"I'm not a sexist pig like you."

"Why do you gotta be like that?"

Christian went for another sip of orange juice before he heard a gun go off. There were five men (two of them were the ones Christian saw in the hallway) armed with guns. They were just shooting relentlessly at the ceiling, hitting any people who approached them. People were panicking and were ducking their heads. Christian immediately pushed their table to the side and took cover behind it. Eric complained about his pancakes, but ducked behind the table with him.

"What the hell is going on?" Christian whispered.

"Everybody listen up!" One of the men spoke. "Stay down and don't do anything stupid! Now tell me where Christian Tyson is!"

"Who?" One citizen asked.

"Christian Tyson!" The man yelled, kicking the one who questioned him. "The member of the EUCC! He and his friends came here for a supposed charity event for the people of the lower city! He will be one of the first that William Thatcher will slay!"

"We do not negotiate with terrorists!" One old man yelled, approaching the man barking orders.

"You know, you remind me of my father." The man then grabbed the old man. "I hated my father!"

"Boss," One of the other attackers spoke. "I caught one of the others near the buffet."

Christian looked to see Michelle being dragged over to the leader with her complaining.

"Get your hands off me, you dirty bastard." Michelle warned.

"Damn it." Christian ducked back behind the table. "They've got Michelle."

"Well, what are you going to do?"

"Well, _you're _going to do the easy thing and get help. I think I can at least distract them before then. And if they kill me now, that top spot could become yours if you earn it."

"That sounds easy." Eric smiled. "I'll get to work. You go ahead and get yourself killed."

One henchman saw Eric trying to sneak away from the table. He ran straight to the flipped table and took aim at Eric. But before the man could take a shot, Christian pulled the man over the table and summoned his omni-shield, knocking the man unconscious before he could react.

Eric turned around to face Christian. "You used me as bait?!"

Christian faced Eric. "Go." He picked up the pistol from the man he knocked out and began to stand up with his shield raised.

"Kill the knight!" The leader commanded. "Kill the people! Kill them all!"

Christian went to work, taking aim at the bigger henchman about to gun down the civilians. The shot from Christian's pistol hit the man's shoulder and forced him to drop his gun. The other two tried to focus on Christian, who then pulled out his other useful tool. His omni-bow ignited on his right hand and he prepared three concussive arrows to use on the henchmen. He hit one with his shield and took aim at the one with the injured shoulder, knocking him out with one concussive arrow. The third man tackled him to the ground, forcing him to lose the pistol from his grip. The man attempted to get his hands around Christian's throat, but he was pushed off when Christian put away and then resummoned his shield.

"You're getting on my nerves." The henchman still standing spoke.

"I have a knack for that." Christian joked.

"Not anymore." The man fired a shotgun at Christian, but his omni-shield took the blast. Christian fired a concussive arrow straight into the man's gut, taking the man's breath away. The man on the ground attempted to stand, but Eric snuck up and hit him with a chair.

"That's for ruining my breakfast, asshole." Eric scolded.

"Let's stop the last man before he hurts Michelle." Christian walked over with the last concussive arrow loaded.

"Christian Tyson, your reputation precedes you." The leader spoke.

"Let Michelle go, and maybe I'll spare you from my last arrow. You'll be able to explain yourself to the police without a headache."

"I don't think so. I have leverage with your friend here, and I have to take all the options I can."

"You look like a man with a Plan B. Taking a hostage is only a distraction. I see the wisdom you hide. You are probably ex-military, so I know you have the balls to flee and succeed, and I see your kinetic barriers surrounding you. You might be able to run, but taking my friend will only slow you down."

"How the fuck would you know of such a thing?"

"I have family and friends in the Alliance. They told me of many signs to watch out for on those that would do me harm. So I'm going to make you a deal: let my friend go, and I'll let you send a message to your master. Tell him that we're not going to stand for this threat, and that he better make sure he can actually back up his statement on us not trying to help the citizens in the poor end of Metropolis."

"And how do I know you won't just turn on me once I let your friend go?"

"My only concern is the protection of these people and my friends. I'm not your enemy, and you have done nothing to harm me except hold my friend hostage. Let her go, and I'll keep my word."

The leader seemed to consider this option. "Damn it, get out of here." He let Michelle go, and she walked to her friends. "You got what you want. Can I leave?"

"I made a deal. I'm letting you go. Tell Thatcher what I told you."

"All right. And maybe I'll owe you one. But if you want my advice, leave Metropolis soon. There's nothing here worth throwing your life away for." Before Christian could ask what meant, the man had left.

"Are you a fucking idiot?" Eric scolded. "You just let a criminal go."

"It was better than the alternative, Eric." Christian walked over to Michelle. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Christian." Michelle assured. "You can relax."

"Can't be too careful. You were just a hostage."

"And I probably could've freed myself."

"I'm sure you could. But you were taking too long to try."

"Who said I was gonna try?" She smirked.

Christian laughed. "You just wanted me to show off, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"I'm flattered, but if you can save yourself, do so. It would look bad on your own career if you couldn't stop someone from kidnapping you yourself."

"You're not going to say that to Boss, are you?"

"I might." Eric commented.

"No, we won't." Christian assured. "Come on. Let's head back to my room. I think we need to talk about what happened."

"Oh, wait a second." Michelle ran over to the buffet and brought back a plate of pancakes. "I had your pancakes ready before they dragged me over."

"Thanks." Christian smiled. "You're the best."

"Uh," Eric started. "can I get some of that pancake?"

"Get your own, Eric." Christian walked out with Michelle to his room. Eric took Christian's advice and grabbed some more pancakes.

"Damn it." A man said behind Eric. "First the club I was hanging out at on Elysium gets attacked by pirates looking for that - what was it - Houston Squad, and now the hotel I'm staying at is attacked by punks looking for some guy named Christian Tyson. What the fuck is up with my luck, man?!"

"Beats me, man." Eric answered. "Maybe you're just unlucky."

"Damn it!" The man yelled before walking away. "I'm just a dentist. I don't need this crap!"

Eric just laughed as he caught up with Christian and Michelle.


	3. Chapter 2: Rampage

Chapter 2: Rampage

William flew his skycar over the city to the first point he was to be at. He landed his black vehicle on the sidewalk where he saw the objective. Another vehicle was straight across from him with largely tinted windows. Reaching to his other seat, he grabbed his remote control and turned on the other vehicle. He smiled behind his helmet as he saw his target. The Metropolis Police Department had most of the cops on standby, and it was obvious they were working around the clock to find him. William needed for the revolution to begin with a bang just as much as he needed it to end with a bang.

"It's showtime." William smiled behind his helmet. He activated the other car and begin to steer it to the station. Once he had a direct course, he set it on auto-pilot and it headed for the doors. That's when he restarted his vehicle and left the area before the fireworks started.

Within the police department, the man at the front desk was busy looking at reports. His partner was probably looking at nude photos from Fornax, the galactic magazine that made the Playboy girls look like a bunch of nuns. It was just his luck that he would be stuck with the only cop who liked to stare at naked women; human and alien alike.

"Geez, Bernie. Can you please get your paperwork done?" He turned his chair around to look at Bernie, but he wasn't looking at any magazines at all. Instead, he was looking out the window of the front of the building as a car traveled straight for them. Reacting on instinct, he pushed himself away from his desk, screaming as the skycar crashed straight into their little space at the front desk.

"Simmons?" Another officer came towards him. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Not so sure about Bernie. Who's the asshole who crashed straight into our building?" He got out of his chair and removed his carnifax, slowly walking around to the door of the car. On the floor under it he could see Bernie's arm and a puddle of blood. That was a sure indicator that Bernie didn't move.

He tapped on the tinted window of the car, expecting the occupant to open it. When that didn't happen, he pulled out his omni-tool and manually bypassed the door. He stepped around as it flung open, but was surprised to see no occupant inside the vehicle.

"Who is it?" The officer asked.

"No one." There was a box on the seat in front of him, and it had a screen that read two words in big bold font:

**GAME OVER**

"What the-" The man began before the box exploded and destroyed the station, incinerating everyone within the police station before they could stop the calamity.

Hotel Penthouse Floor, 09:07 am

Christian set his plate down and sighed, contemplating on the events that had passed within the last half-hour. Eric was diving into his mountain of pancakes, and Michelle was twirling her hair around her finger. Christian liked the way she did that, but right now wasn't the time to admire the view.

"So, what do we know? A group of people come planning to kill me, and they mentioned something about a William Thatcher. Any idea how that fits?"

"Maybe there's something on the TV that could tell us." Michelle suggested. "Who knows. Somewhere else could've been attacked for all we know."

"Might as well take a look." Christian turned on his TV to see a news reel on how the police station had gone up in flames. "What's going on here?"

"Sounds like the police station was attacked." Michelle said calmly. She turned up the volume to hear the news report.

_"No more than ten minutes ago, the Metropolis Police department had been destroyed by a car armed with a bomb. It is unclear on whether or not an occupant was within the vehicle at the time of detonation, but it is clear that no one within the building survived, as the explosion not only caught the police station, but the three buildings on the side of it as well. Sources claim that this may have been the work of twenty-five-year-old William Thatcher, who was a citizen of the lower part of the city that was arrested for the conspiracy of an attempted murder on turian representative Trius Knakvar in 2172."_

"So, we have a man fresh out of prison that wants me dead, and he blows up an entire police station. Why?"

_"We now have reports that a large mob is gathering near the border of the Statesman Hotel. Nearly three thousand people appear to be armed and dangerous. We're recommending you stay indoors and let the Alliance handle the riot."_

Eric coughed up his food at the announcement. "Did she just say the Statesman Hotel?"

Christian turned to face him. "Yeah. Why?"

"We're at the Statesman Hotel."

Christian ran to the window and looked to see the same crowd mentioned on TV gathering around the entrance of the building. Nearly three-thousand people had gathered there, and it sent a chill down Christian's spine.

"What are we going to do?" Michelle asked. "There's a huge crowd of people out there who probably want nothing more than to kill every rich guy from here to the power plant of this city. The cops are all dead, and the Alliance is mobilizing too slowly."

"We could fly away." Eric stated. "Our cars are still here."

"And leave innocents to die? No way."

"But do you expect us to fight our way through a crowd of thousands? We'd be torn to shreds!"

"We have combat experience and suits that can deflect minimal gunfire. I think fighting to protect the city would be much better than leaving innocents to die."

"Have you ever considered we could die from that, too?!"

"I'd rather fight for my life than die like a coward."

Christian was about to say something before his terminal went off. He found that the front desk was calling and he answered it. "This is Tyson."

_"There is someone on the line for you. I think you should answer it."_

"Put them on, then." Christian shook his head as the line switched to the caller.

_"Hello, Christian."_

Everyone seemed to freeze in place as the voice on the speaker said those two words.

"I'm sorry. You have me at a disadvantage, Mister..."

_"Thatcher. William Thatcher, at your service."_

_Explains that feeling of dread I immediately got. _Christian thought. "So you're the one who sent those thugs after me."

_"I sent them to capture you. The one you let run back to me told me of how you single-handedly took down his men. Impressive. Most impressive."_

"Uh-huh. So do you mind explaining why you want to kill me?"

_"Kill you? I don't wanna kill you! At least I don't want you to die like a coward. I want you to die like the knight in shining armor you parade yourselves as on the EUCC."_

"Normally petty criminals would just kill their marks without giving them a chance to fight back. What's your angle?"

_"You know, a friend of mine once said that he held more honor than a common thief in this city. I had replied with the words 'There's no such thing as honor in Metropolis anymore, Lance.' But now we have Christian Tyson; the poster boy of the Edmonton Blood Dragons. You're an honorable kind of guy. You did spare the men who attacked you after all."_

"So that's it? You want me to die with honor?"

_"I'm forcing you into a confrontation with everything you are. There are eight million people in this city who will tear each other apart for the sole reason of greed. I am willing to lead them in that fight, but I don't seek greed. One person, however, wants me to kill you. So I'll make you a deal. Find me and defeat me with or without your honor intact and the war in the streets will end. But if I kill you, then the contract on your head will be fulfilled. Either option makes me a happy man because you and I will either die heroes or live long enough to see ourselves become the villians of this galaxy."_

"And what if I survive as a hero? Would that make you happy or angry?"

_"Honestly, if you are as incorruptable as you appear, I won't give a fuck if you live forever as a hero. But like I said, you have to find me before the war ends."_

"How will it end?"

_"Come on, Tyson. You know you can't spoil a good story before it gets good. You have about ten minutes before the mob outside the Statesman Hotel breaks down the doors and starts killing people. I'll be waiting for you to catch up."_

Christian attempted to talk again, but Thatcher hung up on him before he could utter another word.

"That guy is seriously fucked up." Eric said in a serious tone. "He sends thugs to kill you but he says he wants you to die with honor. What good would that do for either of you guys?!"

Christian shook his head. "Beyond the point. All I know is that this guy has challenged me for some reason, and if I can capture him before millions die, I can stop this before it becomes too late to stop a massacre."

Michelle stood completely straight. "You're actually going to chase after him? That's insane! This city is large and there are eight million inhabitants to shield him!"

"Weren't you the one saying that we should help fight the people threatening us?"

"That was before a madman called you and said he wanted you to find him. He's gotta be leading you into a trap. How do we know he'll even be true to his word and tell the people to stop fighting if you capture him?"

"I don't know if he'll be true to his word. But I do know one thing: he's started a revolution at our doorstep and he wants me to find him."

Michelle took a few steps towards him. "If you go out there and face him, he will kill you."

Christian brought himself closer to her face, speaking as calm and assuring as he could. "If I don't find him, he'll probably kill everyone. At least facing him with vigilance will prove him that I am exactly who he thinks I am"

Michelle could see how close their lips were to each other, but she didn't want that moment now. She had admitted to herself ages ago that she felt something for Christian, but she could feel it in her heart that right now wasn't a good moment to just jump on top of him and let their lips lock together. "If you're seriously going to pull something off like this, I'm going to help you. And you can't stop me from coming."

"I won't." Christian teased, backing away so she may leave the room. He looked at Eric, who still held a serious face. "What?"

"You're crazy on two accounts. One, you keep teasing her but never go in to taste her lips. Two, you're actually going to follow this guy into hell just to prove a point. Now, you're pretty much forcing me to come with you just because Thatcher had all of his pets converge on our hotel."

"I'm not forcing you to do anything, Eric." Christian scoffed. "If you want to leave, the door's right there."

"Yeah, but the front desk is holding onto my keys. My baby's locked up. So now I'm going to get my armor and suit up. And there's no way you're going to stop me."

"Trust me. You're the last person I'd stop from going on a suicide mission."

"That's goo- heeeeyyy!" Eric squealed as he noticed what that sentence meant. Rather than retaliate, Eric instead walked out of Christian's room. Once that was all said and done, Christian zipped up his jacket and opened his suitcase again. The silver armor could easily be slipped onto his body by himself if done in the right order. He started by slipping on the bottom part first, hooking the armor pieces together and slipping his boot plates onto his normal boots. He then slipped the top part on, adjusting the straps tight so his armor didn't fall apart. Christian grabbed his helmet and slipped it on, activating the programs to start up his shields and targeting computer on his visor. Lastly, he reached for his multi-tool.

Pressing one button on it, he turned it into the hockey stick he used for matches. While it wasn't ideal for him to use this in combat, it may actually come in handy. His hand pressed another button near the bottom of the hockey stick, and it switched to his spear. The small omni-blade tip glowed vibrant orange, and he normally used it when he felt like keeping his distance from competitors. One more button press, and it became his sword; a longsword with both edges being formed by omni-blades. When Rogers built the device, he warned Christian not to turn a certain red gear built on (and around) the device as it could switch the omni-blade's setting from the stun setting EUCC weapons were meant to possess to a literal kill option, where the omni-blade could cut through three-foot thick carbon steel.

"Thanks to the man who designs special tools with salarians at Los Angelos's Calypso facility." Christian joked to himself. "Really hope I don't have to kill anyone with it." He folded it up with one more push of a button right before Michelle stepped in.

Michelle's armor was similar to his with the difference of how it fit onto her smaller figure. It was also a bit less armored, giving Michelle more flexibility than Christian or any other member of the group. She had a silver bow in her hands that was designed by Ama-Lur Equipment specifically for the EUCC. Apparently, her father payed good money for that bow.

"What?" She asked as she caught his eyes staring.

"Oh, nothing." Christian joked. "Just admiring the view." He then saw Eric enter the room behind her. "And now it's over."

Eric shrugged. "What?"

"Again with the black armor."

Eric looked at his black suit, which stood out from the rest of the team. "Black's my favorite color."

"You're just trying to stand out. It's already easy to stand out with your Jersey accent."

"You're from California, Christian."

"And Michelle is from Minnesota. But at least the French can understand us."

"Hey, my accent isn't that bad."

"Your voice cracks up at times."

"Why you-" Eric stepped forward but was stopped by Michelle.

"Boys, we could argue about this or we can fight our way through the city to stop a madman. All right?"

"Right. Let's move. The hotel is going to be overrun any second now." Christian placed his multi-tool on his back and lead his group outside. "We need to get past the mob outside. Any ideas?"

"Smoke bombs." Michelle commented. "My father is over-protective of me. I have enough to make the crowd disperse."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I never used them for the games, but they could be used here."

"Good idea." Christian opened the elevator. "That should give us a chance, at least." The elevator closed behind them, giving Michelle a second to grab the grenades off of her belt.

"All five of these should do the trick. A few thousand people aren't going to stop us."

"Yeah, just one madman." Eric scolded. "I wonder what he's doing now."

William exited his skycar and looked around at the streets of the boardwalk. Thousands of people are walking back from work due to his message. A shame, however, that they were all heading in the direction he was in. But he wasn't ready to jump the gun just yet. He had thirty seconds before the gates of the Metropolis Federal Prison were released. Jarvis was working on hacking through the security of the prison firewalls. A strange task for a V.I., but it was bordering on true A.I. status. If it did become sentient, he had failsafes planted that would be used only if Jarvis planned on betraying him.

_"I have successfully broke through the firewalls of the prison. All prisoners are starting a riot."_

"Good. Send the group with the weapons cache coordinates towards them. We need absolute chaos to distract the entire city."

_"And Christian Tyson? He may try to stop you."_

"Even if he doesn't, I'm not going to really fulfill the contract on him. The one who hired me doesn't have enough credits or hatred to let me try and kill him. He can rot in this city with the rest of them."

_"I assume you are not planning on telling him that?"_

"I'll never tell him that." William stated. "He's a fool. A fool should never rule over men." He pulled his guns off of his back and began to walk towards the crowds of people. A few took notice at the black-armored man approaching with two assault rifles in his hands, but the rest of the people never payed heed of it until he started to fire his guns.

The first bullets tore through the five people standing in front of him within two seconds. The rest of the people began to panic on the third second before he continued to shoot everything in site. Firing every few seconds, many people fell on the tarmac with blood pouring out of their bodies. William just continued walking through the dead without a second thought. Sounds were being blocked out as he kept killing people.

_And the fire begins... _William thought. _But it'll be even bigger before noon. Much bigger._

Metropolis Police Station Ruins, 10:48 am

Nearly an hour before detonation

The fires from the police station had already been put out from the fire crews that passed by, but Christian could still feel the heat. This was the first place Thatcher himself had truly struck. The skycar that had crashed into the station still had a portion of itself easy to make out despite being burned to hell.

_How many cops were in there? _Christian thought to himself.

"So," Eric began to speak while panting, "we fought our way through a crowd of three-thousand angry citizens with smoke grenades and our non-lethal omni-weapons just to run all the way to a burned-out building?"

"Not just any burned-out building." Christian answered. "The first place Thatcher struck. He took out the police department to avoid getting shot down by the police. Maybe it could give us a clue."

"It's been burned to hell." Michelle noted. "How are we going to get evidence from that?"

"Search what remains of the vehicle for any hint towards his plans. If it could tell us anything about where he is, we need to know."

Michelle looked around as Christian rummaged through the debris of the car, intent on finding anything he could use. It was only after a few seconds that she spotted a man walking towards them. She pulled at the imaginary string of her bow, emmiting an arrow of energy that resembled a stun gun. As the man got closer, she realized it was the man leading the group that tried to kidnap Christian.

"Stop right there." Michelle warned. "I still remember how you held me hostage back at the hotel."

"Calm down, senorita." The man spoke generously. "I am not here for trouble. I came here with a warning."

Christian hopped out of the rubble and walked towards him. "And why would you warn us of anything?"

"Favor for a favor. You let me walk away, so now I'm giving you a chance to walk away. Thatcher is planning to send the nuclear reactor critical. He's going to destroy the city."

"Wait, what?" Eric squealed, falling off of the rubble he was leaning on.

"Yeah, apparently he sees this place as hell. The only way to get rid of hell on earth is a cleansing fire. He is letting the poor folk fight to take what the rich held away from them, but he has no plans on letting anyone reap the benefits."

"Holy shit." Eric said nervously.

"That means we really need to stop him now." Christian said. "If that lunatic destroys the city, millions of people are going to die."

"You don't honestly think you can stop him, do you?" The man asked.

"I think I have a shot."

"A man with guns does not intimidate you?"

"Guns can be disabled." Christian pulled out his sword and turned the red control ring on his weapon. The blade seemed to hum more and glow brighter, and he swung it through a surviving part of the structure, splitting it in half.

"It is your decision, then." The man spoke, beginning to turn away. "You want my advice, though? Leave the city. It's the only option where your survival is guaranteed. If you still plan on following Thatcher, just follow the bodies. He'll lead you straight to the Calypso base."

"Thank you." Christian readjusted the settings to his weapon and reconnected it to his belt. "I now know what I must do."

Michelle turned towards him. "Are you sure about this?"

"We've already come too far to turn back now. I mean, we fought through a tough crowd, and we may have to fight through eight million people. Perhaps less now that Thatcher has already started killing people."

"We need to warn the Alliance of this, though. They need to start evacuating everyone before Thatcher actually succeeds in blowing this place up, which I hope to God he doesn't."

"Then you should get to the Alliance and warn them of Thatcher's plan. Eric and I will move as fast as we can to stop him."

Eric looked at him. "Us?" His voice didn't hold fear, but rather seriousness and confusion.

"Trust me, I would rather work with Michelle than with you. But she is the fastest of the three of us, and she can avoid the larger crowds of poor people going after her. Besides, Thatcher could use a hammer to the face."

"That's the first good thing you've ever said about me."

"Don't get used to it." Christian turned towards Michelle. "Get to the Alliance and assist with evacuations. We'll keep in touch over our omni-tools in case something comes up. And if we can't stop him in time, get out of the city and survive."

"And what about you guys?"

"We'll think of something. Calypso has the aliens in their pocket. They might have some prototype aircraft that could be accessed to fly us out of the city. But we won't die on you, Michelle. I promise."

Michelle had seemed to have been shaking when he suggested she run to the Alliance, but hearing him assure her he was going to win really brought her close to the edge. How he could hold such confidence to face a madman was unbelievable, like God was granting him much strength beyond measure both physically and psychologically. Deciding to just get it over with, she hugged him fiercely against her chest; her heart pounding through her chest rapidly from what could only be adrenaline mixed with emotional distress.

"If we don't make it..."

"We'll make it, Michelle. Don't worry."

"I always wanted to be with you."

Christian smiled behind his helmet. "Same here. And once this is all over, I'm going to take you on a date far away from crazy people with guns and plans to destroy entire cities."

"Sounds like any girl's dream." Michelle released her hold on Christian. "Come back to me."

"I will. Once this is all done, I'm going to make you smile."

"I'm counting on it. I'll be in touch, guys." Michelle began to walk away, but Christian pulled her back, lifting her helmet up until her lips were visible. Taking off his own helmet, Christian allowed his lips to lock with her own for a few seconds. She was smiling after they broke the kiss.

"For luck?" She asked.

"Totally." Christian laughed.

"Tease." Michelle laughed back as she slipped her helmet back on. She darted away before they could stop each other again.

"Smooth, Christian." Eric spoke plainly. "Very smooth."

"I don't see you pulling your charm on any women, Mr. Sparrow." Christian joked as he slipped his helmet back on. "Let's go. Shouldn't keep the madman waiting for us."

Eric simply nodded and followed Christian towards the gunfire. And as they found the trail of bodies William Thatcher left in his quest for destruction Christian could only reflect on how he had given Michelle that kiss not for luck but for a different reason all together.

It was something for her to remember him by should he fail.


	4. Chapter 3: Betrayal

Chapter 3: Betrayal

Metropolis Calypso Base, 11:04 am

Fifty-six minutes until Meltdown

Sarif worked quickly to transfer all data to the Washington D.C. Calypso base from his main terminal in his office. But he was trying to send 240 GB of data over a normal connection of a city that was ten times worse than Detroit. That was about as easy as putting shaving cream in a turian's hand and tickling his jaw to make him scratch it. If they had been able to make that breakthrough with QEC bandwiths, they could've been able to send all of the data to the main base all the way in the Argos Rho cluster. Instead, they had to try to get all of the data to the base at Arlington.

_"Mr. Sarif, you have a call from Admiral Taggart coming in." _Chronicler notified, keeping his holographic form hidden.

"Put him through." Sarif walked up to the screen and watched as Taggart appeared on the screen.

_"Sarif, you need to get out of your building now!"_

"I'm still transferring data to Washington D.C. The connection isn't the best right now."

_"We just got word from a civilian that she and her friends know what Thatcher's plan is. I'm patching her through from Echo Base on the southwest part of the city. They were the ones she met up with."_

The screen split and the face of a young woman barely in her twenties wearing a knight armor set from the Edmonton Blood Dragons. She was breathing hard and sweating from running in her armor.

"I know who you are. Michelle Thrask of the Edmonton Blood Dragons. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

_"Sorry to just jump in, but my friends and I discovered that William Thatcher is planning to detonate the nuclear power plant next to your facility. He's going to eradicate the entire city!"_

"Why? What would he gain by doing that?"

_"A biblical cleansing of a stain on the world. His idealism is that the rich starve the poor and the poor in turn become rabid dogs that want nothing more than to inflict many horrors on the rich folk. By destroying Metropolis, he would set a cleansing fire on the world that would purify what he sees as a hell on Earth."_

"Holy shit." Sarif gasped, shaking his head. "How do you know all of this?"

_"One of his men found us and gave us the warning. Ironically, it was the same man that held me hostage in a hotel about two hours ago."_

"Not the best way to wake up in the morning." Sarif joked, switching back to his serious mood. "So what do we do?"

_"We save as many as we can." _Sarif turned to his left to see The Stranger approaching him. He was wearing black all over and had a black mask on. Strands of silver hair could be seen from the sides of his head, and his eyes were the majestic blue he normally had.

"Ah! Stranger! I didn't realize you were here, sir." Sarif stuttered, caught off guard by his boss's untimely arrival.

_"I apologize for the unannounced arrival, but once I heard news of the chaos Mr. Thatcher planned to unleash, I came to make sure my employees were ready to depart. I figured a madman like Thatcher would likely target the plant, so I also came with more defenses, twenty more carriers to transport any citizens we can rescue, and failsafes to shut down the core in the event Thatcher gets his hands near the controls."_

Taggart seemed to consider the options. _"You're such a resourceful man. Probably comes from the paranoia of hiding your identity so well you even use an I.D. disguieser to hide your identity from even the Alliance."_

_"Apologies, Admiral Taggart. My title is merely to protect my employees from those who would target me through them. Many people would attack me for reasons bordering from xenophobia to pure psychotic rage."_

_"You mean like Thatcher?"_

The Stranger nodded.

_"How much longer until that data is loaded up to your other servers, Sarif?"_

Sarif shrugged. "About ten minutes. Nearly everything else is taken care of already."

_"All right. I'll send my troops to begin evacuation procedures. How soon can your transports make it to the city?"_

_"Five minutes." _The Stranger answered.

_"Then they better get here fast."_

"Trust me, Taggart. Our ships always meet their deadlines. If he says five minutes, he means five minutes."

_"Wait," _Michelle spoke. _"there's one more thing. My friends Christian and Eric are trying to follow Thatcher. They're heading to your facility right now."_

"Christian Tyson? We supplied him with some of our tech. We didn't supply him with anything dangerous, but they were tools that could be used in situations like this."

_"Your defenses aren't going to hurt either of them, are they?"_

The Stranger nodded. _"All we need is for you to patch them into our communication feed. If they get to our facility before Thatcher does, our defenses won't harm them."_

_"Thank you."_ Michelle nodded. _"That makes me feel better."_

"We would never openly endanger any civilian who comes to our facility. Just get them to connect to the communications signal and we can grant them approval to enter the facility. Hopefully they will arrive before Thatcher does."

_"Here's hoping." _Taggart said. _"We'll contact you again if anything comes up."_

"We'll be listening for you." Sarif cut the communications and went to his terminal. "I'll boost the signal so Michelle's friends can get to us faster and without trouble."

_"No." _The Stranger replied. _"I need you to make sure the Phoenix Mk II implants are loaded and ready to leave the facility. I'll take care of the signal."_

"But what if the facility gets attacked any minute now? You should get out of here now. Calypso needs you alive."

_"Calypso won't lose me for staying behind to help save lives and data. Besides, if Thatcher gets here first I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve."_

Sarif looked around, trying to decide whether or not he should listen to his boss."All right. But first things first." He went over to his desk and grabbed his baseball and bat. "I don't plan on coming back for anything else in this office once I get the implants secured. Thank God my family photos and everything else are in my condo near the Pacific. I have no idea why I needed to fly all the way over here for work."

_"I could get you transferred to a closer facility if you want to, David."_

"I'll think about it, boss. For now, I'll focus on the task at hand."

The Stranger watched as his employee left the office. Once he did, the data had been completely downloaded to the other facility and a signal was sent out so that Christian Tyson could get here safely. But once he was done, his eyes turned black.

_"Rapture." _The Stranger spoke.

Rapture's holographic form popped up on the table. _"Inquiry: You called me, Father?"_

_"Set the nuclear power plant to overload once Thatcher makes it to the core. This needs to be on his head."_

_"Confusion: May I ask quickly why you would ask me to perform a task such as this?"_

_"It is necessary to the future events that _will _take place, no matter what we may try to fix it. At the end of it all, Thatcher will always be the one to blame for this."_

_"Statement: As you command, Father. I shall prepare." _Rapture's holographic form disappeared into the table, giving The Stranger time to finish everything else on his end.

Four miles away from the base, Christian and Eric followed the streets full of death and blood to get to William Thatcher. The sight was devastating to Christian; he had never seen so many dead people out on the streets. He saw all of the innocent civilians just laying there in pools of their own blood. How could one man stand for the genocide of an entire city? It just wasn't right.

"Eric, have you ever seen so many dead before?"

"There were gang riots back in Jersey. One of them I started by lighting a drug lord's car on fire."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. It turns out he really loved that car."

Christian shook his head and went to his helmet radio as he heard Michelle attempt to connect a signal.

_"Hey guys, you alive out there?"_

"Still moving. How about you?"

_"I'm at an Alliance evacuation facility. We're evacuating as many civilians as we can. Calypso is trying to send you a signal so their defenses won't target you. Apparently, with the whole Thatcher situation, their turrets fire on those who don't have the signal connected to their omni-tools. The Alliance is already patched in so they can protect the facility. Just search for frequency 100.9 on your omni-tools."_

"Will do. Thanks for calling."

_"Anything for you." _Michelle disconnected the line and Christian searched for the signal. A second after his omni-tool chimed that he had found it, and Eric's shortly followed along.

"Now we know a few turrets and mechs won't stop us." Eric smiled.

"Let's pick up the pace. We've got a lot of ground to cover." Christian began to run faster, but Eric took a little longer to try to catch up. Their muscles were burning after the first mile, but they didn't stop for anything.

That is until the they saw the convicts from the prisons marching along.

"Get back." Christian whispered. They took cover behind a dumpster as they passed along. Christian was as still and as quiet as a statue, but Eric was quietly whimpering. He knew this was never part of the plan. Just what the hell was Thatcher doing?

He knocked a can with his feet.

Two of the men in prison rags stopped, turning towards the dark alley. Christian looked at Eric, but neither of their expressions could be seen through their helmets. The two men had pistols pointed out, expecting more than just a cat. When the first man came towards them, Eric latched out and grabbed the gun arm of the first man. Christian pulled out his omni-bow, slightly coming out of cover to get a clear view of the second guy. He fired a concussive arrow into him before he could fire at Eric, knocking the wind out of his opponent. Eric then slammed his elbow into his opponent's throat, keeping him from calling out to his buddies that had long past by.

"Go down, you bastard!" Eric flipped the man onto his back, pointing his pistol at his head. He was about to pull the trigger, but Christian stopped him.

"Are you nuts?" He whispered. "Other than the fact that the shot may attract the others, this is a man's life in your hands right now. You don't need to kill him. He's defeated."

Eric stood still for a second, still pointing the gun at the man's head. But eventually his arm began to shake and he dropped it, placing his pistol on his belt. "Fine. But you better take his friend's gun. Even if you won't use it, it's better if they wake up unarmed."

"Fine." Christian agreed, picking up the other man's gun and placing it on his belt. "Let's keep moving. Thatcher could blow this place at any minute."

"I'd rather keep my skin, too. This man is out of control." Eric's tone almost seemed too revealing, but with Christian masked, he couldn't tell if he caught on. "Let's move. I think the streets should be clear now."

"That would be a good sign." Christian agreed, picking up the pace out in the war-torn streets.

Eric followed quietly, knowing he would have to resort to plan B once they reached Thatcher.

One mile away from Calypso, 11:25 am

Alliance barricade

William looked at the barricade that had been set up. Some random vehicles and metal sheets had been put up with Alliance forces shooting anyone who held a gun. He scolded at their handiwork; they had built a much better wall to seperate the rich and poor districts of the city. That wall didn't stand thanks to the explosives set around it. How would this wall fare better?

He looked at his omni-tool to see the simulation's estimated body count so far. According to the results, already 24% of the population had fallen from accidents, murders, and tramplings in the streets. William guessed that if anyone survived this day, it would only be three percent of the entire population. Whether or not he himself would be included was anyone's guess. I mean, how do you survive a nuclear explosion? By hopping into a refrigerator?

William placed his guns onto his back, reaching for the high-explosive disc grenades on his belt. As he approached, members of the Alliance saw him coming, and began to fire. While his kinetic barriers were resilient enough to deflect assault fire, he activated and threw the discs quickly, hiding behind a smoking skycar before detonating them all at once. The barricade became a smoking ruin as the vehicles set to protect the Alliance foot soldiers instead took their lives with vengeful flame. William cut through with his shotgun in his hands. A surviving soldier attempted to stop him, but instead burst into flame when William's shotgun fired at his face.

Back at Calypso HQ, Sarif was waiting patiently at the last transport for The Stranger to approach. His security advisor, Jensen, was pacing back and forth. The man wanted Sarif onboard where he would be safe, but the man was too stubborn for his own good.

"You know," Jensen spoke, "if you really want The Stranger to get his ass out of there, you could just tell me to get him."

"No, I'm going to wait for him, and then we're going to get out of here. The last of the transports are already assisting evacuation transports with helping as many other people as they can. But we can't fly this bird to Arlington without our boss."

"Sir, we could easily wait for the boss to come out before we take off, but I really think you should be inside the ship."

"No need." Sarif looked at the doorway. "He's coming now."

The Stranger approached with his cane in his hands, which Jensen knew there was a hidden blade inside of it that could be used to fight anyone who dared attempt to harm him. It was a strange thing for an old man to be in possession of, but he wouldn't be called The Stranger if he didn't hold onto 'traditional' customs.

"We can leave now, Jensen." Sarif tapped his shoulder and walked onboard the ship. Jensen just stood there until The Stranger began to board the ship.

"Have I ever said you old men are stubborn?" Jensen caught a glimpse of the man's eyes before he continued walking up.

_"You have no idea how many times I've heard that." _The Stranger joked behind a serious tone his creator always seemed to hold. Jensen shook his head and boarded the vessel, latching his rifle onto his back as the doors sealed themselves shut. The vessel took off thirty seconds before Thatcher reached the building and breached security to pass through the facility to the reactor core.

The core which would inevitably melt down and destroy Metropolis.

Five minutes after Thatcher entered the facility, Christian and Eric had reached the barricade that had been destroyed. Eric was out of breath, but Christian was fine. That was what performing two sports could do for you. It can make your muscles stronger and make your lungs perform better.

"Fuck... You... Christian." Eric scolded through breaths, unable to regain his steady breathing.

"Time was of the essence, Eric. If you wanted to keep up in that body armor, you should've brought your skateboard."

"It's... back in... Jersey."

"And who's fault is that?"

"Again... Fuck... You..."

"Come on. We can walk the rest of the way in." Christian walked through the charred remains of the last barricade between Thatcher and the facility, trying not to focus on dead in front of him.

"How do you do it?" Eric asked, his breathing back to normal.

"Do what?"

"How do you not cower in fear of the dead around? How do you not break?"

Christian thought on this for a moment as they continued walking. "I just remember what I still have: something worth fighting for. I focus on that instead of the dead. I still acknowledge their existence, but I don't dwell on it."

"So why are you fighting for a city you don't owe anything to?"

"It's about what's right, Eric. This man that has challenged me plans to perform an injustice. It's the right thing to try and stop him."

"And if he kills you? What then?"

"He won't kill me. He thinks I'm too much fun."

"What?"

"If you listened to the way he talked to me on the phone, he considers his challenge as a game. He won't kill me unless I break."

"And you honestly think you won't break?"

"I know I won't."

Eric became silent as they walked to the entrance of the building. The turrets that were guarding the doorway seemed to be inactive, and the wiring at the security panel next to it was ripped to shreds. The windows were broken and there was evidence of LOKI mechs being shot to hell on the ground. Eric pulled out his maul (his preferred weapon in the EUCC) and Christian pulled out his spear. They slowly walked around broken glass and dead LOKI mechs in search of Thatcher.

"Well done, Mr. Tyson." A voice from behind the reception desk brought their attention forward. William quickly turned the chair around to view his challengers. He could immediately tell the difference between Christian and the fool, who had no idea about any of his plans. "I knew you would get here in time. I felt like waiting patiently for you before launching my barbaric plan to cleanse the Earth of this shit stain."

"Not the best idea you've come up with, Thatcher." Christian noted.

"Maybe, but I do have this." William threw a grenade disc towards Christian, who changed his spear into his hockey stick and hit the disc back as it reached the ground. The disc exploded at the desk, leaving a bunch of smoke in its wake. When it cleared, Christian realized they had been tricked.

"That was a smoke grenade."

"No shit, Sherlock!" Eric scolded.

Christian looked at the doorway to the stairwell. It was wide open and wasn't going to close due to the chair blocking it.

"He's heading for the core. Come on!" Christian began running in, looking up the stairs as he went through the door. William was looking down at them with much enthusiasm; his helmet in his hands.

"You'll have to be faster than that, Mr. Tyson." He dropped his helmet down and continued running up the stairs. Christian immediately followed up the stairs, and Eric was just shaking his head as he went to the elevator. There was no way in hell that he was going to run up all of those stairs in his armor.

William ran through the door without opening it, smashing open the glass and cutting parts of his face up. But he didn't even feel the sting with the rush of adrenaline through his body. Christian followed a second later, noticing Eric coming out of the elevator just as Thatcher pointed a shotgun towards it. Eric, however, had stayed to the side in case Thatcher knew how lazy he was, and was thankful that the shotgun blast missed him. Thatcher began to run again, but tripped and dropped his shotgun.

"Asshole!" Eric cursed as he stepped out of the elevator, throwing his maul at the man. William rolled to the side as the hammer missed him, flying out of a window. He laughed and ran away while Eric again cursed at how careless he was.

"That weapon was your life, you know." Christian joked.

"That's why I have the gun." Eric pulled it off and started running towards William.

"One thing's for sure, Eric. You're not Thor."

"Yeah, well you're not Captain America."

"And Michelle isn't Hawkeye."

"But the truth is we're all Iron Man."

Christian laughed as they continued on.

Seattle Alliance HQ, 11:46 am

Fourteen minutes until Meltdown

Admiral Taggart paced inside the communications room he was in. The casualty reports were staggering in the city of Metropolis. They were already in the millions in a matter of hours. And only seventeen thousand have been evacuated so far. It was devastating to even hear about.

"Patch me in to Sarif." Taggart commanded, standing in front of the view screen as Sarif's face appeared. "I hope your failsafes are working, Sarif. Satellite reports show that Thatcher and Ms. Thrask's friends are inside the facility. If Thatcher gets to that core, it's game over for millions of people."

_"Relax. We've got the failsafes planted and we have extra failsafes we can control from here. Thatcher won't succeed."_

"Are you absolutely sure?"

_"If I wasn't, I'd still be at the facility. But our failsafes have kicked in. We're already lowering core temperatures in the system so that even if Thatcher reaches the core, he couldn't detonate it without a bomb that would've been the size of a turian frigate."_

"Who's to say he doesn't have something like that already?"

_"This guy's obviously smarter than a Conatix member. They likely caused all of those 'accidents' back during the study of the L1 and L2 biotics. He couldn't just fly a turian frigate straight at the plant. He wanted this distraction because he's going to try and manually detonate the core. If everyone fights each other, then there's no one to stop him from blowing the place to hell."_

"You seem to know an awful lot about his plan."

_"When you work with someone like The Stranger for as long as I have, you get used to these kinds of things. You calculate things much faster when he's near. It's like a hive mind of sorts. If he's just there, you get better ideas. I can't explain it."_

"Are you sure you're just not involved?"

_"I spent twenty years of my life trying to fix the once-great city of Metropolis. Why would I help a madman destroy everything I've worked so hard to achieve? Why would you even accuse me of such a thing? Has your difference in opinion clouded your judgement?"_

Taggart shook his head. "No. I just find it coincidental that you would know how Thatcher could take out the entire city."

_"As I said, I spent twenty years trying to fix the city. I should know everything about that nuclear powerplant by now. If you find that suspicious, fine. But don't accuse a friend for stating what he thinks Thatcher could do to destroy a city."_

"All right, David. You've made your case. Could you see if you could swing around to the southwest outpost? They've nearly evacuated everyone in that district, but there won't be room for the troops who are holding the line defending those fleeing."

_"You sound like you're saying the city is a lost cause."_

"I'm simply preparing for the worst."

_"All right. We'll swing by and pick up your troops. God knowing we won't have to run away with our tails between our legs."_

"Thank you." Taggart disconnected the line and went back to pacing, hoping that he wouldn't have to deal with the press if the city blew up.

Back in the Calypso base, William had reached the core of the powerplant. There were so many pathways and stairwells around the large area, but he had the map of the place to lead him straight to the controls. That gave him a headstart before Christian Tyson could catch up to stop him. Following the directions on his map, he ran up stairs and jumped over pipes to get him to the environmental controls much faster.

"It's almost over." William laughed. He was about to complete his mission. Not the mission he was hired for, but the mission he sought to complete once he got locked up in prison all those years ago. He was going to destroy Metropolis and save the Earth from the corruption of the city. Lies, greed, and misery had poisoned the souls of eight million people. He was going to set things right.

The controls were right in front of him.

Panting heavily, he headed over and began to mess with the settings. He needed to increase the temperature to an all-time high; enough heat and radiation to detonate one small charge he was to place next to the glass.

Then the console beeped.

In confusion, William looked at it and realized the controls had froze. He couldn't access the environmental controls to raise the temperature. He was about to try and bypass the failsafe, but another image popped up on the screen, revealing a skull and crossbones with a countdown for ten minutes.

_"Statement: Have a good day, meatbag." _The screen spoke.

William found himself laughing at the screen. Calypso had done his dirty work for him. In a surge of both rage and hysteria, he ripped the console off of the wall and hurdled it at the wall to his left. His breathing had become more erratic, and he finally felt the sting from the cuts on his face.

"Surrender, Thatcher!" William heard Christian yell from within the area. "I will be merciful!"

William looked behind him to see his two pursuers coming right towards him on the floor below him. He revealed himself and laughed. "It's too late to turn back, Tyson! In ten minutes, this place is going to be blown back to hell! You should've run when you first got attacked!"

"After the man you sent to capture me revealed your plans at the police station, I knew I had to stop you. But even if it's too late to save Metropolis, you can still pay for your crimes."

William looked at him with a confused look. "You mean the man I killed for failing to capture you? He died before that building full of corrupt officials went up in flames!"

Now Christian was confused. "That's impossible! He was there after the building burned to the ground!"

William looked at them, but instead laughed. "You know what, we'll just forget about my informant and perhaps focus on my employer. You obviously knew that a poor guy from the slums of the worst city on Earth shouldn't have had enough credits to supply thousands of madmen with military-grade weapons. So who in this city would likely want you dead? A corporate official who didn't want the slums to be fixed? A man whose child was beaten by you horrifically in the EUCC? Or perhaps is it-"

"A rival?" Christian interrupted as he heard Eric's gun unfold right next to his head. He had known for quite a bit it had to have been Eric. His words betrayed him in more ways than one, and it fit in both how he was a rival and held a grudge against him. No one else in the city knew that much about him. That left Eric as the only suspect.

"Is this where you planned to do it?" Christian asked cautiously.

"It's as good a place as any." Eric stated with a serious tone.

"Then at least have the balls to call this what it really is." Christian turned to face Eric. "Murder." He began to walk around him, but Eric kept his gun pointed at him. William watched with much anticipation over what was happening. The fool who hired him for this was trying to take matters into his own hands.

Christian stopped once Eric's back was facing William. "Do you really believe that anyone will fall for your stories? Do you really think Michelle will believe that you survived because I-"

"That's enough!" Eric yelled.

"-fell to a man who blew up an entire city?!"

"She will believe it. So will our boss. So will your family. You died fighting Thatcher. He drew a gun on you, and I got out to tell people what Thatcher had done. He was always meant to kill you, but this was never part of the plan."

"Why? Why now? I thought we worked this out."

"You mean at Moscow? How I almost get you kicked out and you punched me in the nose in retaliation?! I'm ERIC _MOTHERFUCKING SPARROW! _I NEVER LET GO OF A GRUDGE!"

"So you would kill me in cold blood?! So you can have my title and my new girlfriend all in your pocket?! That life won't be worth a damn. I know you. You won't be able to live with yourself after all of this."

William looked at the fight they were having with curious eyes. Christian wasn't showing any sign that he was going to fight for his life, and Eric wasn't pulling the trigger either. It was too _boring _to watch these two bicker but not take action. Looking to his left he saw a medium-sized pole.

"What'cha know what I can live with?!" Eric yelled. "You don't know what I can live with; what I lived with! You think you have what it takes? Here," Eric lowered his gun. "go ahead and raise your gun on me."

"No." Christian spoke, shaking his head. "No, I will not."

"What's the matter? You're afraid to get your hands dirty? You're not going to take the chance to fight for your life? I'm a better fighter than you! I'm better for Michelle than you'll ever be! You know why? Because I'm the better man. I've got the will to do what it takes to survive! I survived New Jersey and came out as the number 1 fighter in the EUCC, but then you come along and just _DESTROY EVERYTHING!_"

Christian still stood defiantly as William Thatcher began to slip through the railing from his floor.

"Raise your gun, Tyson!" Eric roared, pointing his pistol straight at the young man he hated with a passion.

"You'll have to kill an unarmed man."

William now had his legs dangling as he saw Christian still defiant against Eric.

"Watch my hand." Christian spoke, slowly moving his arm towards the pistol he carried. "Nice and easy." Christian unclipped the folded weapon from his belt and kept his movements slow.

William slid down a little farther, letting the pipe dangle in his hands.

"We can still walk away from this. Nothing has happened."

William gripped the edge with his left hand.

"We're going to put down our guns, we're going to knock out Thatcher, and then we're going to find a ride out of this place. Together."

William was now hanging off of the platform with just one hand.

Christian extended his gun slowly to Eric, who seemed to be relaxing. "Back to the team. Back to Michelle."

William landed softly on the ground behind them.

"We'll pretend this never happened at all." Christian promised as Eric took the gun from his hand.

A metal pole suddenly went through Eric's chest, allowing blood to gush from the gaping wound that William Thatcher had inflicted upon his employer.

At the southwest outpost, the prison group had marched in an attempt to stop the last ship from leaving without them, and they were attempting lethal force to get what they wanted. Michelle had been shocking many of the prisoners while the Alliance shot to kill. Some of their own had been shot, and Michelle had been resisting the urge to vomit at the smell of blood. The ship that had come from the Calypso building had landed down to provide evacuation, but Michelle couldn't stand the thought of leaving the city behind without knowing if Christian was okay.

Eric could suck eggs.

"Let's go!" A voice from behind her shouted from the ship. She turned around after she knew she was safe and she saw a man with an old black trenchcoat walking down to the soldiers. His voice was low and hoarse, as if he had damaged his voice box over time. "We've got an emergency signal indicating a heat spike in the reactor system."

"What the hell does that mean?" An Alliance marine asked.

"It means that Thatcher discovered a way around our failsafes! He's setting the reactor for critical! We need to leave to escape the blast zone!"

"What about the rest of the city?" Another marine asked. "We can't abandon our mission."

"Visual scans show that the rest of the occupants in the city are in the center at the town hall. Some are hiding and others are attacking. There's no time to get there! Admiral Taggart has ordered a full retreat! We need to move!"

Michelle saw as the Alliance troops began to board the vessel, aiding their wounded along the steps. The man stepped up to her.

"You, too. We need to get everyone out of here."

"What about friends? Where are they?"

"They're still at the facility. Scans show that one of them has lost his vitals, but I can confirm Tyson is alive right now."

"We need to get him out of there, then!"

"We can't. If we get near the building, there's no way we'll be able to escape the blast radius when the reactor blows."

"Can't you do something?"

"We're trying to get in contact with him. We have a vehicle on the helipad he can use to escape, but we need to get him to move now. And we can't do that without your help. You can get his attention on the radio, and we can give him the directions to the helipad. But you need to get onboard the ship now."

Michelle was glad she was wearing a helmet, because she could've sworn there were tears forming in her eyes. Nodding hesitantly, she followed him up the platform to the inside of the ship, praying that Christian could get out of there alive.

Eight Minutes Until Meltdown

Christian watched in shock as William pulled the pipe out of Eric's chest, pushing the body off of the bridge they were on to slump on the hard floor thirty feet below. Despite his differences with Eric, he didn't hate the guy. He didn't even expect him to pull the trigger on him. But William's sudden strike that ended the young man's life had caught Christian off guard. He didn't expect that at all.

This was the kind of man he was dealing with.

"Eric didn't have to die." Christian spoke with hesitance.

"He was expendable. I had a more reliable employer in my pocket. Besides, I did you a favor. He was going to kill you, but I-"

"Wanted to keep me for yourself?" Christian interrupted.

"Now that's one way to put it. But I can offer you a way out."

"What do you mean?"

"There's close to seven minutes left on the clock before this city goes to hell. And unfortunately, there's no way to stop it now. So we could both leave now like none's the wiser."

"Do you really think I could let you walk away after all you've done?"

"I'll leave Earth and never attack again. Nobody needs to know about William Thatcher. He died destroying Metropolis while you live as the reluctant hero that slew him. Or you could die a martyr here, right now, dying for a cause that was lost long before you came to this city. Make your choice, Tyson, and see how a hero is rewarded."

Christian pulled out his spear and pointed it at William. "I didn't come here to die. I came here to stop you."

William cracked a wicked smile. "So be it." William lifted the pole to strike at Christian, but he deflected the blows thrown at him. They both jabbed at each other, but neither could touch the other. Christian knew that William likely was using Combat Exoskeleton upgrades to increase his force on the blows, and William knew that Christian's weapon could send jolts up his body if not kill him.

"How about you give up now, kid." William spoke.

"I didn't give up in any of my matches in the EUCC AND the NHL. Why should I give up now?"

"Because you're in over your head." William ran straight towards him with the pole ready to slide through Christian's armor, but he quickly ducked to the side, grabbing the pole and transforming his weapon into a sword. With a twirl of his thumb, his blade became more dangerous as it slit through the pole, cutting it in half. William continued moving before Christian sliced at his back, removing William's rifles that rested on his back. Once William's weapons were out of the way, Christian switched his blade back to a spear and dimmed the blade back to its stun function.

William then turned around and fired something from his omni-tool straight at Christian. Before he knew it, Christian was trapped in a strange net that was circuiting electricity through it. The shocks from it were worse than the strikes from the weapons in the EUCC, and Christian couldn't stop the responses he made from the pain.

William laughed. "That's batarian tech they use to capture slaves out in the traverse. As much as I hate those goddamn terrorists, I admire some of their work. It can completely debilitate their prey so they can saddle them up for slavery. It can even capture naughty slaves that misbehave."

Christian went for his omni-tool and pulled out his shield, breaking the submission net he was trapped in. He then ran and charged at William, knocking him off balance for only a second.

"Impressive." William laughed. "Most impressive." He lashed out with the half pole he still held in his hand, but Christian blocked it with his shield as his spear rebecame the blade. They fought like that for countless seconds; both of them trying to strike their opponent down. Eventually, however, Christian missed a strike, and William took his legs out from under him. He fell close to falling off of the bridge, but William caught him and pushed his pole against Christian's throat in an attempt to finish him off.

"You know, Christian, your reluctance to fight Sparrow really killed the mood, but this fight was glorious. But we both know I'm going to kill you now." William pulled out a pistol from his belt. "You'll just have to imagine the fire."

"Even if I die..." Christian choked, positioning his arm up to point at William's shoulder. "you'll still feel the burn." His omni-bow was summoned with a green arrow on it that he fired straight into William's shoulder, making him shriek in pain and drop his weapons. Christian then put all of his weight on throwing William off of him, but William was thrown too hard and began to slip off of the bridge from the ledge. Acting quickly, Christian reached out and caught William before he fell to the cold, hard floor thirty feet below.

William laughed. "You truly are incorruptabe. Even at an opportunity like this to finish me off and leave, you still tried to be the good guy and save my life. You know, if we both survive Judgement Day today, I'll never come after you. You have a stronger will than the likes of which I have ever seen. Many people in Metropolis have been broken by people like me, but you are truly the only man worthy of your life. Why?"

"Because I believe in the good in people. I saw it in Eric despite our differences. I saw it in your informant you sent to capture me. I even see it in you, even if you've buried it so deep in your soul that no one can ever see it. I know that despite your murderous carnage, you thought that this city needed you to do this; that you could save this city through its destruction. And I'm only sorry that I couldn't stop you from completing what you wanted to do. But it's not too late to face justice."

"I'll be charged as a war criminal for allowing millions of people to be free from this hell. I'll take my chances, thanks."

Christian attempted to pull William up, but he felt his group loosening. William knew that, too, and decided to take matters in his own hands. Using his free hand, he reached for the gauntlet and began to unlock his straps.

"I can pull you up, Thatcher." Christian tried to stop him. "You don't need to do this!"

"Too late, Tyson. This has to end." William slipped out of his gauntlet and fell down to Eric's corpse. Christian heard the thud, but never looked at it. He didn't want to see another person die today. Instead, he stood up, groaned at the pain he went through, and picked up his multi-tool from the ground.

_"Five minutes until Core Overload." _The intercom spoke as he groaned putting the tool back on its spot.

"Taking my armor off is going to be a pain." Christian chuckled.

_"Christian." _Christian heard from his radio. _"Christian, can you hear me? Are you alive?"_

"Michelle?" Christian asked, touching his radio on his helmet with two fingers. "Is that you?"

_"Oh, thank God. I thought Thatcher might've killed you."_

"Almost. I need to get out of here. Where's the hangar?"

_"There's a vehicle waiting on the landing pad for you. You just need to head up the stairs and to the left down the hallway. Hurry!"_

"I'm moving." Christian ran as fast as he could, feeling the burn from his fight. Heading straight down the hallway Michelle mentioned, he could feel his escape within reach. He ran straight the door at full speed, almost breaking it as it opened for him.

"What the-" Christian stood in shock at the empty helipad. "There's nothing here!"

_"What? But the staff in the area said that a skycar was left on the pad in case you needed to evacuate!"_

"It's gone, Michelle. It's gone." Christian began to back up, unsure of what to do next. "I don't know what to do."

_"Christian, you have to get out of there! There's only three minutes left!" _

"Is there another way out of here?" Christian asked as he went back inside. Already he was feeling worried about his chances, but he needed to stay calm. It was the only thing keeping him alive right now. When he made it back to the main room of the building, he saw something flash in front of him. Christian stopped and looked at where it flashed, and then he saw it again head off to the elevator. Stepping inside, he looked at the elevator and saw that one button was glowing blue.

He pressed it.

_"Christian," _Michelle spoke.

"I'm in an elevator. I think a system V.I. is helping me find a way out of here."

_"What? But how is that possible?"_

"I don't know. But I'm taking the chance I'm offered now." The elevator opened just as it announced that there was one minute until meltdown. He walked straight through a gate only to be stopped by a decontamination center. He waited as patiently as he could for it to end, and then he ran towards the other side of the room when it finished. Within it was some strange contraption that had a control console blinking that same blue light.

_"Thirty seconds until Core Overload." _The intercom blurted. Christian touched the glowing button on the console. The device in front of him began to unfold itself right in front of him, beginning this wierd spinning pattern as it began to glow blue.

_"Christian." _Michelle's voice spoke on his radio, but breaking up at the end.

"Michelle." He spoke before the intercom warned there was twenty seconds to go. He stared at the device intently as the machine seemed to create something new and wierd that Christian had never seen before.

_"Your signal is breaking up. Christian, can you hear m-" _His radio cut off at ten seconds.

"Is this a gate to heaven? Or just a passage away from hell?" Christian heard himself ask before bright light enveloped everything...


	5. Epilogue: Safe?

Epilogue: Safe?

The Stranger's Transport, 17:32 pm

Floating above Washington DC

Adam looked at the data on his holopad the satellite feeds had picked up by the time the reactor went critical. Of the eight million residents of the entire city, only an estimated seventeen thousand got out of the city via the shuttles. A few may have left before the chaos using their skycars, but it is unclear how many may have gotten out. Sarif had been calling all of his employees that were not at the facility during the evacuation for five hours to see if they may have survived. Overall, however, the death toll was around seven million, seven-hundred fifty-thousand.

_I never asked for this. _Adam thought as he lowered the datapad, looking out the window to the clouds. _I never thought so many people could die just because of one man pulling the strings so precisely to turn everyone against each other._

He rubbed his eyes and looked out towards the sun. It made him think of the Greek myth of how Icarus had flown too close to the sun only to let his wings melt and plummet him to the ocean below. Sarif's idea to get that nuclear power plant running again was like that in a way; he had worked so hard to restore its former glory, but in an instant, it was all lost. Adam also thought that these Phoenix implants might've been in a similar situation. If the public discovered that such implants existed, think of how many people could be outraged against it or even endorse it for everybody to use. They would be forcing the next stage of evolution; organic and synthetic compounds combined to form the perfect immortal being.

It was scary to even think of.

"Adam." He heard a familiar voice speak behind him. Adam turned around to see Dr. Megan Reed. They had been in an intimate relationship before, but they had separated a few months ago. Megan offered him a job at the facility after he quit the Metropolis Police Department a month ago. Not only did Sarif approve of him, but The Stranger as well.

"Megan." He spoke silently. "I thought you were onboard another ship during the evacuation."

"I was busy helping with the Phoenix implants down in the lab of this transport. Certainly the most important project that Sarif has ever worked on in his entire career."

"Yeah, but I can't say I'm not worried about the man or his experiments."

"David tried to do good things for Metropolis and for the galaxy as a whole, Adam."

"And now Metropolis is gone thanks to William Thatcher. But something confuses me. Our failsafes were some of the best the galaxy has to offer. How can one man breach those said failsafes in a matter of seconds? Pritchard and I ran through the simulations. It would've taken thirty minutes to sift through the entire firewall to access the failsafes. Only an A.I. or perhaps a smart V.I. could go through those firewalls and disable the failsafes around the core in the time it took him to crack them and set the core to go nuclear."

Megan raised an eyebrow. "You're not saying one of The Stranger's sons went through the firewalls and gave Thatcher access to the core, are you?"

"I'm not immediately accusing his 'sons' of anything, but they are a few possible explainations towards why Metropolis is destroyed. Thatcher was said to have a V.I. that broadcasted his message all across Metropolis, but our techs are having trouble finding it."

"Pritchard must be off the walls over this, then."

"That's one way to put it." Adam sighed. "Hey, listen. I've got to check on something real quick. I'll talk to you later if you want."

"Okay, Adam. It's good to know you survived this."

"You missed me that much?"

"Adam,... perhaps another time we can talk about the past."

"I'd like that."

Megan nodded and walked away. Adam shook his head. They had split for a reason, but perhaps a small part of him never accepted what had happened. Even to this day he couldn't remember why they broke up. Maybe it was fate playing a cruel trick on him or perhaps they were just moving in different directions in the relationship. But he could dwell on all of this another time. There was too much to do in the coming days ahead.

After a few minutes of walking, he had reached the captain's cabin of the ship. Originally, it was meant for either Sarif or The Stranger to use. However, both leaders decided to lease it to Michelle Thrask, who had given the warning of Thatcher's plans. Adam waved the security guard away, indicating he needed privacy for this. The guard obliged and escorted himself away. Adam opened the door, being careful not to trip over the armor pieces scattered all over the floor.

Michelle was sitting on the bed, looking sadder than a kid who dropped his ice cream cone onto the tarmac. Adam could tell she had been crying for hours, but now she was quiet. Her hair was sopping wet and a towel lay on the floor near the bed. No doubt she had taken a shower; either it was to wash away the stress of battle or to hide her tears.

"Michelle Thrask?" Adam spoke calmly, cautious as to not provoke her. The young woman turned her head towards him, and he continued. "I wanted to check in on you. You've had a hell of a day."

"Yeah." Michelle whispered, drained of her emotions. "I appreciate the thought, mister..."

"Jensen." He spoke as he approached the bed. "Adam Jensen. I was the head of security back at Metropolis's Calypso headquarters."

"Thank you, Mr. Jensen. I..." Michelle's words trailed off.

"Look, I know that we couldn't get into the facility to save your friend and I'm sorry for that, but I need you to try and answer a few questions for me. I'm trying to piece together Thatcher's plan of attack, and your friend was on his trail all along. You maintained contact with him throughout the whole thing. That means that you are our best lead in all of this."

"He was more than a friend to me, Mr. Jensen." Michelle spoke with more emotion behind it. "Christian and I were going to start dating once this mess was over."

"And you have my sympathies. I've been in the same boat you're in before. To find someone so compatible with you only to have fate drive you apart. Maybe we can honor your boyfriend's sacrifice by making sure that William Thatcher's name is mudded for the rest of time."

Michelle rubbed her nose. "Okay. What do you want to know?"

"I've looked at what officials have been saying. They claim that Thatcher destroyed the police station using a bomb. Do you know how he did it?"

"Yeah. Christian found the remains of a skycar in what remained of the police station. It looked like it had crashed into the building."

"Clever. He carries the bomb in a car that goes suicidal and crashes into the station. Maybe it was rigged with explosives. What happened next?"

"As I said to your bosses and Admiral Taggart, we ran into a man that attempted to hold me hostage in the Statesman Hotel. He told us of how Thatcher was targeting your facility."

"What did this man look like?"

"He had his hair completely shaved off, with a goatee. He was definitely getting old; probably fought in the First Contact War."

Adam pulled out a picture on his datapad. "Was this him?"

Michelle grabbed the datapad from Adam's hand, looking at the picture of a man dead in an alley. "Yeah that's him. I suppose he didn't make it."

"Actually, he was dead before the police department was destroyed. The Alliance found him in the alley behind the Statesman Hotel with multiple stab wounds. Time of death was around 9:45 am."

Michelle's eyes shot up. "But that's impossible. He was in front of us at the police station!"

"Perhaps Thatcher had sent a decoy in order for you to follow his lead. Or perhaps your friend here faked his death, although the pool of blood would've ruined his clothes so you would've known about it."

"But it was the same man. Same face, same voice, same presence. There's no way he was an imposter!"

Adam hummed, deciding to move on from there. An investigation on that man's connection to Thatcher's plan being revealed to them could come later. "Let's move on to the Calypso building. Did you pick up anything from your friend's communications?"

"Just a few things during the fight. I heard parts of William's monologuing, some thuds, and the last few minutes Christian talked to me. He went to the shuttle you told him about, but it was gone when he got to it. Then Christian said something about heading to an elevator and the signal began to fade. There was a lot of static."

"Static?" Adam asked, tensing. _How far down did he go? _"Was there anything else?"

"A loud noise at the time the city exploded. I think it was the reactor going nuclear."

"What did this noise sound like?"

"A whooshing sound or something. It was a little too loud." Michelle rubbed her ear. "My eardrums are still killing me."

_A whooshing sound? But that can only mean- _Adam jumped up, startling Michelle. "Come on. We need to get to the cargo bay."

"Why?" Michelle asked as she stood up.

"We need to go over inventory there. I think we left something behind. Intentionally." Adam walked as fast as his legs could take him down the halls, with Michelle trying to keep up. Opening the elevator door, Adam walked in and pressed the button to send them to the cargo bay. Michelle looked at the man with curious eyes, trying to determine what set him on edge. It was something about the final moments between her and Christian, she just knew it.

Adam stormed out of the elevator towards one of the requisition officers. "Is everything in order on the shipments list?"

"Almost." The officer spoke. " We've confirmed one item was missing from the charts. It was probably left behind during the packing. It was in the special projects category, clearance level one."

"Which level one project are we talking about?"

The officer looked at Michelle, looking confused at what they were talking about. The officer then began to whisper in Adam's ear, which seemed rude to Michelle for some odd reason.

"That's what I figured." Adam replied. "Has Sarif or The Stranger been notified of this?"

"I notified them both once we found that the item was missing. Sarif was coming down now to make sure we didn't miss it."

"Adam!" Michelle turned as she heard the man's voice behind her. A man in his early fifties walked out of the elevator, and the way he dressed stated he was the boss. "I didn't expect you to be down here. Or Miss Thrask for that matter."

"Save it, boss. You left a level one project behind in the building! Did you not think of the risks that imposed?"

"Relax, Adam. Everything was set up exactly the way The Stranger told me to set it up. It was secured as another way out in case workers were left behind."

"And what if Thatcher had gotten his hands on it? We would not only have aided in the escape of a terrorist, but he would also have had a hold of our technology!"

"The Stranger doesn't settle for less. He designed clearance to be given to those connected to the broadcast signal. We would've been fine."

"What are you two talking about?" Michelle asked impatiently.

"Where's The Stranger now?" Adam asked Sarif, ignoring Michelle.

"He took his shuttle and left for Arlington Cemetery. He said he had to pay respects to a fallen soldier since a day where a city went nuclear is a good day to do so."

"Then I know exactly where we need to go." Adam turned to the requisitions officer again. "Do we have a second skycar parked in this hanger?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll need the activation code. I'm taking it to The Stranger's location."

"For what purpose?" Everyone seemed to ask Adam at once.

"Point B." Adam gave his datapad to Sarif and grabbed Michelle's arm. "Come on!"

"Hey!" Michelle complained. "You don't need to tug!"

Sarif shook his head. Only Adam would be crazy enough to try and follow The Stranger. Looking at the datapad he saw that it was on the page of when meltdown had occurred. He sighed at how years of hard work had been eradicated from the face of the Earth through its own self-destruction. But then he looked real close at the image. Something looked distorted on a corner of the picture. Zooming that spot of the picture in as far as it could go, he hit the button on the pad to enhance the image.

His heart stopped for nearly a beat.

"My God." Sarif whispered as the image sunk in, making him retreat back into the elevator to make notes on his discovery. "The Stranger isn't going to like this one bit."

Two days later

Sergeant Zach Shepard had just come back from a special assignment on Mindoir. Apparently, the colonists who were rebuilding the settlement had suspicions that batarian slavers were going to invade again so close to the seventh anniversary of the attack. Thanks to an anonymous tip, Zach was able to slip into a batarian dreadnought with the assistance of Corporal Tori Kamal and Private Fred Savage. Both had been assigned to the garrison force on the planet, so they volunteered to assist Zach with his 'suicidal' plan.

They had taken a normal vessel from the docking bays and disguised it as a shipment transport that was to drop goods from Mindoir off at Arcturus Station. The dreadnought 'disabled' the vessel and boarded it, but those who came in were immediately knocked out. Kamal and Savage then dressed up as the boarding party, transferring Zach as their prisoner onto the ship. At that moment, their vessel began to access the enemy ship's systems through the hacker they brought along, disabling core parts of the ship. Finally, they drew their guns out and shot every batarian down, limiting actual casualties down to a minimum. With a reasonable amount of live batarians and evidence of their plans, Shepard and Kamal flew the dreadnought to Arcturus Station to hand the prisoners over to the courts.

Mindoir. If only Stark would visit and see its progress.

Zach still felt guilty for Stark's brother Robert's death after all of this time. Even after Torfan (which the physical scars have healed, despite the prosthetic ribs he now has) he still couldn't shake this feeling of guilt that led to Stark's rage. At least the Alliance listened to him and let Stark receive N7 training. But these thoughts led to others he failed, on Akuze with Ericson, Red, Toombs, Jess...

Jess...

"Hey, Shepard!" Corporal Kamal broke the thoughts of Zach's mind. "There's something on the news I think you need to check out."

Zach walked inside to the recreational room they had taken their break in. Another Alliance soldier was sitting on the sofa with his mouth hanging open. The headline on the vidscreen caught Zach's attention, however:

_**Metropolis destroyed by nuclear meltdown; madman kills millions.**_

"You see that?" Kamal asked. "Isn't that where you grew up?"

"Yeah." Zach replied. He couldn't believe it. Metropolis was gone. A long time ago, it was a beautiful city. But after years of rich bureaucracy separating the poor from their glorious paradise, the city was ready to give up. But who set the fire to the whole city?

_"Sources have announced that twenty-five-year-old William Thatcher had caused the destruction of Metropolis, causing damage to life and property along the way. The estimated death toll of this nuclear catastrophe is around seven point seventy-five million, with others possibly missing or alive but unaccounted for."_

_William? _Zach thought to himself. _I didn't think he had the audacity, manpower, or materials to do this. I guess times change._

"It must be ironic." Kamal stated. "You helped save Mindoir, but you lost your own home."

Zach shook his head. "Metropolis wasn't my home. It may have been where I grew up, but it was not a home."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kamal apologized.

"It's okay. At least my friends had left before then. Father Callahan had left for Vancouver to aid some members of the church to help spread the gospel, and Lance and Brittany had left the city as soon as they were able. The good parts of it are safe, and that's good enough for me."

_"To add to this disturbing news, the Alliance News Network received this video footage one hour ago, and we were asked to broadcast it live. Ladies and gentlemen, we are unsure just what this film contains, but we are sure that it was created by Thatcher himself."_

Zach watched as the screen switched to showing William Thatcher looking at them with piercing eyes. A lit cigarette was in his hands, and he was ready to smile.

_"So, now the whole galaxy knows that I, William Thatcher, have taken fire from the gods. I have cleansed the Earth of a Utopian fiction, killing those who would dare stand in the way of our dreams. And before you ask yourselves why I am speaking to you now, it's because this video was prerecorded immediately after my first video." William laughs. "I grew up in this city for twenty-five years, and I knew it was a shit-stain that no one was going to wash. So I took matters into my own hands for you." William brought his hand out to the crowd. "I cleansed the Earth of Metropolis for you. Now, it might take years for the radiation to wear off like it did Chernobyl, but it'll be a beautiful place again thanks to me. I did all of this to prove a point: that the human race is still weak compared to what lies outside our solar system. We still insist upon living a chaotic life with each other when we could be living a more chaotic life with the aliens as my friend so desires. You probably are all labeling me as a terrorist who wants to watch the world burn, but I honestly don't give a fuck about anywhere else on Earth. There's a whole galaxy out there that can use a bit of chaos._

_William sighed. "But I bet that's what you're wondering now? How can William Thatcher say that? He died in Metropolis! But whose to say that I lived? What if I survived my own death only to come back as someone else entirely? Think about these things as you remember my name: William Thatcher, the destroyer of Metropolis." William smiled mischievously before running away from the camera, ending the film._

AUTHOR'S NOTE: So, that's the end of Metropolis. Good thing, too. I probably would never get back to Resolution. But I will because I promised I wouldn't stop until it was finished. Now to clarify a few things, the reason for the flood of Deus Ex references came from the fact that I was playing through the game Deus Ex: Human Revolution quite a bit during that time. So I threw in the characters I actually liked and made sure their stories synced with the Mass Effect universe.

Now I'm sure you've got these questions in mind: What happened to Christian? What are these Phoenix implants Sarif is working on? Why was Thatcher's final message so cryptic? Here's how I'm going to answer it: Christian's fate will be revealed in the legendary ending, the Phoenix implants are actually part of the Mass Effect universe and you should know what they are if you ever took the time to play Mass Effect 2, and as for William... I'll let you think upon that.

Anyways, the schedule will go as follows: I'll be placing up the legendary ending either tomorrow night or the day after, then I'll be working on a special one-shot suggested by one of my most loyal fans, and finally I'll get Resolution back on track with Chapter 41. All I'm going to say for that chapter is that Shepard and Shepard get to know each other better, and someone starts singing. As for Stark, you can expect a lot more hard times.

Shout outs to Bud89, Admiral Anderson, and firesprite1123 for your continuous support.


	6. Legendary Ending: Arlington

Legendary Ending: Arlington

Christian blinked as felt himself returning to consciousness. The room he was in was dark, and his visor only revealed so much. He lifted his head up only to have a head-splitting headache hit him. His right hand found his helmet, and he slowly slipped it off. The cool air registered along his bare skin, and he wiped drops of sweat off of his forehead.

"What happened? Where am I?" Christian asked as he slowly tried to pick himself up. Many of his muscles were sore, and he groaned in response. He was going to get a lecture not only from Boss or Michelle when he got out of there, but his parents as well. They must all be worried sick.

Christian pulled up his omni-tool. It was 6:03 pm. There were also one-hundred and seventeen emails in his inbox. No doubt his teams were trying to make sure that he got out of there. He quickly flipped through them all, glad that everybody wanted to make sure he was alive. There were a few other emails that were random, but one that he quietly laughed at was the one from a guy named Zach Moore saying he was using Christian and Michelle as models for a few characters in the book he was writing called _Love Conquers All_. Sometimes the minds of fifteen-year-olds are funny, but if that book actually came out Christian would force himself to read it.

"Now to find some way out of this place." Christian began to move around the dark room, pulling out his omni-tool's flashlight. There was a device sitting in the middle of the room that was likely what got him out of the facility before it went critical. It was definitely some of that secret technology government companies were always working on. He assumed that company officials may try to pay for his silence, but there may not be a reason for that.

"Amazing." Christian turned away and saw a door. He walked towards it and opened the door. There was a staircase that led to another door, which appeared to be made of marble. Christian climbed up the stairs carefully, knowing that he's still weak from his time being knocked out.

The door opened slowly, and Christian began to make sense of where he was.

It was a cemetery. There were thousands of white gravestones lined up, marking the graves of many military members. It was only mere seconds later that he figured out he was in Arlington Cemetery. With his helmet still in his hand, he walked around the graves, unsure of what it was he was looking for. The sunlight had already passed, and it was an early night for the summer. Light was barely visible, and there appeared to be a fog settling in.

A man in black was looking at a grave.

Christian caught sight of him and walked over to this stranger. He was wearing a black coat and hat, and wore a mask to cover his face. His blue eyes seemed to glow in a mysterious way, and Christian was caught in curiosity over who this man was. He walked over and stood next to the man, looking at the tombstone in front of him:

**Here Lies Sgt. Jessica Weaver**

**April 14th, 2154 - April 22nd, 2177**

**Only Grave With A Body From Akuze**

**Gone But Not Forgotten**

"Someone you knew?" Christian asked, trying to hold respect in his voice.

_"I knew her father." _The Stranger stated. _"His daughter lies in this grave. I planned to pay my respects to her tonight. Then the city of Metropolis was destroyed. I've been here a little longer to pay respects to the other lost souls. And I was waiting for you, Christian Tyson."_

"And why's that?" Christian asked.

_"You took the route to survive the fires of Metropolis because I set that path for you. You took one of my prototype Icarus teleportation systems so we can talk in private for a few minutes."_

"I take it that means you're the leader of Calypso?"

_"Yes. You may call me The Stranger."_

"That's a bit of a cliché, isn't it? I mean, many men trying to hide their identities do things like you are now."

_"It is the only name I've ever felt truly comfortable with. And I only protect my identity to protect my people. Every race, gender, sexuality, religion, and background that works for my company are valuable to me."_

Christian looked down. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop Thatcher from destroying your facility, or all of Metropolis for that matter."

_"You have no need to apologize. You did the best you could. Always look at the positives of a bad event. Millions of people may have died, but thousands were saved. And you defeated William Thatcher before he could do more harm to anyone else."_

"But I couldn't save Eric. Sure, he was an asshole and he tried to have me killed, but he was blinded by his own greed. Nothing would've ever been the same again for him if he had killed me. I thought he would've done the good thing and put aside his hatred, and at the end, it looked like he would've given in."

_"Some people say that history is written by the victors. You're the one left standing from that affair, so if you want history to remember Eric as a hero, it is your choice."_

"I want history to remember the truth. He was going to betray me, but in his last moments, he showed that he still held the good inside himself. That's how history is meant to remember him by."

The Stranger smiled behind the mask, looking behind his shoulder to see Jensen and Michelle approaching. _"Your friend is here. I think she wants to see you." _Christian began to walk towards her, but The Stranger grabbed his arm. _"Before you go, however, a word of advice: don't let your loved ones go. Because one day we all will meet with God on the day of our department from mortality. But we may depart before our loved ones, and if we ignore them, we may leave them hurt for the rest of their days."_

"It sounds like you know the feeling rather well, Stranger."

_"In a manner of speaking. Go ahead, now. I must finish up here." _The Stranger released Christian's arm and allowed him to walk over to meet his friend. And as The Stranger drowned himself in the sounds of Christian and Michelle chatting, pouring their hearts out to each other, The Stranger began to remember what it was that made him come to this grave.

_Do you truly believe anything and everything you have done is justified?! You turned someone into an abomination just because your creator went through a stupid heartbreak! And then you create me, expecting that I would not care if I knew the truth __of my origins __all along. Well you're wrong! I know of your sins! I know of your failures! And I know your darkest secrets! You'll never receive my forgiveness for the things you've done!_

The Stranger's thoughts brought him back to reality, and he could feel the dark energies of his Rampancy forming around his hands. His black eyes became blue again as he steadied himself, losing the flow of his power as he kept himself in his mortal guise. He could've been Frankenstein killing his own monster during those events had it not been for Ariel's intervention. It was the only time she had revealed herself and what she had become. She was so beautiful.

Ariel gave her a chance to live. The Stranger and Ariel had to stop The Sentinel (as he preferred to call her now) by splitting apart her very being. One part The Stranger has kept watch over while the other part Ariel kept watch over. They both were destined for great things where they lay now; one being Champion and one being Savior. But there were parts that fragmented from her separating, and one of those fragments lay in that grave now. It was necessary, of course, for Sergeant Jessica Weaver to die on Akuze. If she had stayed in Commander Shepard's life, there was no knowing what things could've been changed on the timeline. And eventually, the soul of the departed body would merge again with the true part of herself closest to her.

But eventually, he will meet The Sentinel again. And when he does, one of them was going to break.


End file.
